What good are fragments?
What use are they to anyone?
We just want to clear them out of the way and move on.
We want everything tidied up and looking respectable
We’ll hide the broken pieces so no one sees them
The redundancy letter
The school report
The hospital result
The divorce papers
The broken friendship
The antidepressants
The emails from the married colleague
The credit card statement
I could go on and on
All these are broken pieces
Quick, hide them, let no one see
Jesus encountered fragments
But he said something different
He said, “Gather the fragments that remain that nothing be lost.”
He said that on the day of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000
People ate and were satisfied but pieces were left behind
The place must have been a mess
But Jesus wasnt prepared to walk away and leave them
He wanted the fragments gathered so that they wouldn’t be lost
He didn’t want them to be hidden or thrown away
He had purpose for the broken pieces
What happened to them?
It says that 12 baskets were gathered that day
We don’t know who took them home
The boy, the disciples, others from the crowd
But nothing was lost
Someone feasted on the brokenness
Sometimes your story can only make sense when you tell it to someone else
Be honest
Tell of your battle with cancer and how you came out the other side
Tell someone there is life after divorce
Tell someone struggling with depression that they don’t have to be ashamed of the medication and their healer is Jesus
Tell the secret shopper that retail therapy isn’t the answer and how you found the ultimate fulfilment in Christ
Tell that person just laid off their job how God provided for you when you lost your job
Tell that young girl who is in love with a married man of how you overcame those feelings of temptation
Tell how God can restore every broken friendship
Your brokenness can be part of someone else’s wholeness
Don’t let shame make you hide your broken pieces
Allow grace to help you gather the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost
Gathering Fragments 