Beauty in the Broken

"You look for a heart that's open, for beauty in the broken..so why am I withdrawn?"
I love Starfield. They have been one of my most favorite bands since 8th grade and there is much truth found in the lyrics of their songs. 
Last week as I shared the brokenness of my life with a friend whilst tears poured from my eyes for the thousandth time since all this started, I was sweetly encouraged to find promises from God and stand firmly upon them and cling to them if I must. 
Wisdom.
God promises so many things and He is so faithful to carryout what He has promised. There are so many verses in the Bible that are easy to passover simply because we have read them too many times. But when you look for the promise in them, look for the hope, you can see God in the pages.Two of my current favorite passages are these:

"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed."
2 Corinthians 4:8-9

"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:17-18

These passages are so rich in promise and hope. And hard times are guaranteed. They're going to come. We're going to go through pain and suffering and difficulties and rough waters. But God is faithful. It will be temporary. It will produce an eternal weight of glory. We will not be crushed. We will not despair. We are not forsaken. We will not be destroyed. 

There is a deep, unshakable joy in that. And while in a trial, it does not seem possible for joy to exist at all, we know that with God, all things are possible. Even joy. 

I am thankful that God renews us day by day. A lot of days I come to the end of the day and feel like I can't do it anymore. I'm exhausted and it hurts too much. But that is when God reminds me, "close your eyes and walk by faith." And the next morning when I wake up and spend time with Him, I am given a new strength and a new hope and a fresh portion of joy to carry me through the day. 

And I am so blessed by the community that God has surrounded me with this semester. I am thankful for God has taught me the importance of being transparent and letting oneself cry in front of other people. I cannot even begin to describe how thankful I am for the many friends that have prayed over me and spoke truth and wisdom and words of healing into my life and my heart. I have been overwhelmingly loved and cared for and looked after and I know that God is at work in all of it. I am loved much.

My prayer now is that the trials that I'm growing through to bring about the beauty of God in my life. Yes, I want to be beautiful. I want my life to be marked by the beauty described in 1 Peter 3. I want for my brokenness to reveal my beauty and for my brokenness to perfect it. Because, it can only come from God. The only form of beauty that I could ever claim to possess is God. 

So when I am broken, may Christ be revealed. In that, there is beauty in the broken.