They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Luke 9:17
Jesus had just fed the 5000, and the fragments lay all over the place. Presumably, he instructed the disciples to pick up all the broken pieces, twelve basketfuls, because these would be used to feed others later.
Dear friend, there are times when our lives may appear shattered. There are times when the experiences you go through may leave you feeling worthless, broken, forgotten and irrelevant. The story of the feeding of the 5000, should remind you that “useless” is not part of God’s vocabulary. It never has been and it never will be.
No matter how you may “feel” today, God is with you and he desires to pick up the brokenness of your life and weave it into a beautiful testimony that will feed the ears and hearts of all who hear your story of faith during this broken season. Your story is not over, it’s only just beginning.
Joseph’s brothers threw him into a pit (Genesis 37:24), and probably thought they had seen the last of him. Perhaps they imagined that they had rid themselves of the family upstart, the favorite son. Joseph himself may have wondered if that was the end; after all it was dark and lonely in the pit. The knowledge that his own brothers had betrayed must have been painful. But things get worse. Joseph gets out of the pit and ends up in Potiphar’s house where he is falsely accused of rape and thrown in prison. Where was God?
Genesis 39: 21-23 fills in the gap, “But while Joseph was there in the prison, the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So, the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” Eventually, God took Joseph out of the prison and brought him to Pharaoh’s palace in Egypt, and that’s where his desperate brothers found him.
No matter what happens in your situation, trust that the Lord will be with you even as he was with Joseph. No matter the outcome, you can count on his unchanging grace. No matter how broken you may “feel”, and how much you may question the validity of a Sovereign, all powerful God, he will be there to pick up those precious, priceless broken pieces and use them for good because in his hands everything changes; the sick are healed, the anxious find peace, the hungry are fed and the broken are made whole. I pray that, you will experience release from “prison" as you seek him with all your heart.
Dear heavenly Father, there can be no me without you. Be the anchor of my life today and every day. Teach me to lean on you through the broken seasons of my life. I offer you these shattered pieces believing that only you can make me whole by the power of your Holy Spirit. I know that even now, your presence and your peace is my palace. Amen.