“Some people have lying about them, broken dreams of social success. Some tell of disappointments in other ways, in scholarship, in art, in music, in friendship, in love, in happiness, in intellectual development, in popularity. Whatever these shattered dreams may be, Christ bids us gather up the broken fragments. They are of priceless value—or the Son of God would not set his eye upon them and so earnestly call us to gather them all up. There is ofttimes far more value in the broken things of life, things men weep over, things they regard as only the wreckage of failure—than there is in the things they pride themselves upon as the shining token of their greatness. God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts and his ways are higher than our ways. When he touched your brilliant dream and it seemed to fall to nothing, he built something better for you instead. When your plan was shattered, he substituted his own far nobler plan in its place!
It is said that when a cathedral was being built, that an apprentice gathered thousands of broken pieces of stained glass, chippings from the glass used by the artists in making the great windows, and with these made a window of his own, which was the finest in all the cathedral.
Christ can take the broken things in our lives, our broken plans, hopes, joys, and dreams, and make perfect beauty, perfect truth, perfect love for us. You are discouraged by the losses you have had in business, the flying away on wings of the riches you were toiling for and trying to gather; but, as God sees, you have been piling away in your soul—riches of spiritual character while losing earthly possessions. You think of your sorrows and count your losses in them—but some day you will find that you are richer rather than poorer through them. What seems loss to you—is gain.”
JR Miller, Caring for the Broken Things
I am so happy Jesus found me in my brokenness!
Beautiful quote.
Much love, dear sister.
Thank you Becky. I’m glad He cares for the broken things, too! Love and blessings my dear friend & sister!
Christina,
I really like J.R. Miller and will be reading his Home-Making book again soon. What a wonderful reminder this quote is to not lean on our own understanding. It has been my times of brokenness that have made me love Him more and more.
Hi Trisha!
This encouraged me so much. I am so grateful that He cares for the broken things! Though we may lose some posessions along the way, suffer disappointments, and experience failure, by God’s grace, we gain what can never be taken away — Christ!
Lord bless you this weekend sister! I’ll be seeing you on-line! ; )
“You think of your sorrows and count your losses in them—but some day you will find that you are richer rather than poorer through them. What seems loss to you—is gain.”
I love these closing sentences. By His grace, I can say this is true.
Amen, Persis.
And by His grace, I can say that it is true, too.
Have a beautiful weekend.
The older I get the more I realize how true JR Miller’s words are. If God grants us longetivity, at the end of the road what is there to take with us to Heaven anyway? Certainly not fame or fortune – so if we lose it (or never achieve it to begin with) we have gain because we have nothing but Him to rely on.
As far as lasting treasure goes, someone once said the only thing we can take to Heaven with us is other people.
Thank you for this beaufitul piece.