Broken Beauty

"To be alive is to be broken, and to be broken is to stand in the need of grace."

When Brennan Manning said those words, I was rattled to the core. To be ALIVE is to be broken. What a profound statement. For some it may seem simple, but for me it was life-altering. You see, most of my life I have wandered around acting like I was fine, acting like I wasn't broken. But I was - i am - broken. And I could write a whole book on all that brokenness, but there's another part to the quote. "and to be broken is to stand in the NEED of grace." woah. Why settle at proclaiming my faults and failures and why I'm no good when I can rave about the goodness and grace of my Savior. What he's saying here is that we are a broken people, but it's okay because we have a God who loves us so much that He grants us grace and STILL calls us His beloved.

In 2nd Corinthians 12:9 it says "But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.'"

I've been rolling that around this week, over and over again in my head. I say to myself "perfect power, in my weakness." and I don't know if that hits you like it hits me, but guys I want to yell it so loud that people get it. His power is made PERFECT in my weakness! So all I have to do is stand in the need of grace because that's when He has the power to move mountains! All I have to do is be broken!

Most of the time, society tells us to get up off the floor and quit crying. Society says to suck it up. Society says get your life together and if you can't do that at least act like it. So that's what I've tried to do my whole life. And now that I find myself in the most broken season of life, I knew I could no longer listen to what society had to say about the matter.

Although I feel the most broken I've ever felt, I also feel the most alive. I feel like I can reach out and touch His grace. I feel like I no longer have to wear a mask or do good deeds to prove myself to my Lord. Instead, I'm able to walk in confidence that He loves me, mess and all. He says, "You are my broken beauty and I love you. You will always be the beloved."

This is good news people. Living life truly alive is admitting that you're broken and letting Him love you outrageously because He LOVES that broken you. He made you in His image. You are His masterpiece. You are the Beloved. and you always will be.

His power is made perfect in our weakness. When we have fallen on our knees out of breath, that is when He is most strong. So go on, be a broken beauty. stand in the need of grace. be alive.

I. Dare. You.