Halves and Pieces

READ: JEREMIAH 17:14; 30:16-18; PHILIPPIANS 1:1-11 I’d been eating the cashews for several days before I stopped to ask why they seemed so small. Then I noticed the label on the canister: halves and pieces. I thought I’d bought the same kind of cashews I usually did—roasted and sprinkled with sea salt—but I hadn’t paid attention to the entire label. Cashews are one of my favorite snacks, and I liked them no matter their size. The halves and pieces offered the same flavor as the whole ones. They were just as filling, just as savory, just as satisfying. Though they were broken, they had just as much goodness to offer. Sometimes I’ve felt like those cashews—crushed to pieces. Difficult circumstances have a way of doing that. Trying our best but being turned down anyway, loving a person who doesn’t love us in return, being passed over for an honor we believe we deserved…those situations can leave us feeling rejected, wondering, “What’s wrong with ME?” Perhaps you feel split in half because your parents are divorced, and you live divided between two different homes. Or perhaps you feel like a piece of you is missing because you’re adopted, and even though you’ve become part of a loving family, maybe you wish you knew more about who your birth family is and why they couldn’t care for you. These kinds of circumstances can make us question our value, our love-ability. We might feel less than whole. Jesus knows we all have broken places, and He has declared that we are immeasurably valuable. God’s love for us is so great that Jesus gave up His life for us on the cross and then rose from the grave so we could enter a relationship with Him. He came to heal us of our wounds and restore us to God our Creator. When we put our faith in Jesus, He forgives our sins and begins a good work in us. He saves us from sin and death completely. And when He returns to make all things new, He will heal us completely, too. Until that day, even though we still experience brokenness, we can rest knowing that God loves us just as we are, and He invites us to be part of the good work of restoration He is doing in and around us. • Allison Wilson Lee • What kinds of circumstances in life have made you feel less than whole? • In what ways have you seen glimpses of God’s healing work in and around you? If nothing comes to mind, you can ask God for this anytime. He loves to answer these prayers. Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. Jeremiah 17:14 (NIV)