Soul Song For Survivors
Sexual Abuse Recovery
Title: Gather the Fragments
by Diann Messer
Gather the Fragments
I was intrigued by the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes.
There are two different settings where He used a small amount of food to
feed first 4,000 and then 5,000 people. Those particular incidents must
have had a huge impact on all four writers of the Gospel; Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John, because these stories are told in each of the four books.
Imagine how remarkable it was to watch Jesus break the few loaves of bread
and a few fish into pieces and just keep passing it out to feed the multitudes!
After everyone had eaten until he was full, they gathered up all the fragments
and found that they had 12 basketsful and seven basketsful, respectively,
left over. Jesus told the disciples to gather the fragments so nothing
would be wasted or lost.
My mind went immediately to gathering the fragments
of my own life. Gathering up all the broken pieces so that nothing would
be lost. God is a God of abundance. To take a few loaves of bread and a
couple of small fish and feed thousands of people and then gather up large
baskets of leftovers......that’s abundance. The same holds true when we
gather the fragments of our lives and give them to Him. He blesses our
broken pieces and allows us to pass our lives around to minister to the
hurts and needs of others. When all have been ‘fed’ there will still be
an abundance to distribute to still more of the ‘hungry’. We can never
give ourselves away too much.
I’ve gone through a healing process, a recovery from the effects of
childhood sexual abuse. I will be in recovery for the rest of my life,
but I am stronger and healthier than I’ve ever been. The natural outflowing
of that healing is to talk about it to others who are in need of the same
type of healing. I just keep sharing my life over and over again to anyone
I find who needs to hear it. When I read this story about Jesus feeding
the crowds with a few fish, I discovered another spiritual truth related
to my own story. When Jesus took up the loaves and fish that he used, He
first had to break them. They started out unbroken and whole. A few loaves
and fish that remained unbroken would not have made much difference in the
lives of the multitudes; there simply was not enough. Not until Jesus broke
them, blessed the broken pieces and began to distribute. We are each broken
in different ways, we have different life experiences.....but, just as the
fish, we are also broken for a purpose. Nothing escapes God’s eye or His
hand. The truth is that God does allow us to go through hardship and difficulties.
We are unable to comprehend the sovereignty of God. We don’t like pain
and we don’t understand why He, a loving God, would allow us to suffer.
The truth is, it’s okay if God allowed His own Son to suffer and bear our
pain on the cross, but we, somehow, think it is wrong if He allows us to
suffer any pain at all. When God allowed His Son to suffer and die, it
is because He had a plan....something greater than we could see or comprehend.
Is it that way with us also? He does also have a plan for each of our lives,
and it is something greater than we are able to see or comprehend. We were
not placed on this earth just to live a life of ease and comfort. God is
not nearly so concerned with our comfort as He is concerned for our good.
He works all things out for our good. Does this include our pain and discomfort?
Are we truly broken for a purpose? God can take anything that comes our
way in !
life and use it for His purposes, but we first must give Him all the broken
pieces. We must come to Him with our hurts and pain. That is not a sign
of weakness, but rather a sign of spiritual understanding and submission
to a God who is greater than ourselves.
I will continue to gather the
fragments of my life, ask God to bless them, and keep on distributing to
those who need to hear my story. I also want to challenge you today to
tell your own story. What fragments and broken pieces do you have in your
life? Gather them up, take them to Jesus and let Him bless those broken
pieces. Then, begin to distribute to others around you who need to hear
your story. This is the essence of the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Spread the Word!
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