When we first moved to Victoria, our family only consisted of Tamara, Michael and I. We bought a house but didn’t have much to fill it with! So, for Christmas that year, Tamara’s parents bought us a stereo cabinet.
The next day, I spent hours putting it together. After several tries, I finished the wooden structure, and it was time to install the glass doors.
I couldn’t get them to fit, so in my immaturity, I grabbed a tool, but it wasn’t the right one. I grabbed a hammer! After tapping the top of that glass ever so lightly, you can guess what happened. The doors completely shattered—and Tamara’s heart right along with them!
I drove to SEARS that day, described what happened, and they were gracious with me. They ordered another glass and explained how to install it properly. They didn’t even charge me!
Now, I might be the only who would do something as ignorant as I did with that glass door, but I’m not the only one who has done ignorant things in life. We’ve all made choices that end in a shattered heart, and many times, it feels beyond repair.
In those moments, what matters most is our response. Do we pout, hide, or try to fix it on our own? Or do we take our heart to its Creator, who knows just how to repair it and does so graciously? When we accept God’s invitation to love us back to health, we’re set on a path that starts with grace, is lined with love, and ends in hope every time.
Romans 5:1-5 (NIV) says: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Here, the Apostle Paul describes God’s path that takes us from a shattered heart to a healed, hope-filled one. Along that path, we find four things:
Power,
Access,
Trust, and
Hope.
Verse 5 tells us we find power through the Holy Spirit that comes to dwell in us. Verses 1-2 tell us we receive access to God through faith in Jesus. Verses 2-3 says we mature as we trust even through trials, and verse 5 reminds us that on God’s path, hope never leads to disappointment—only to His promises fulfilled!
How incredible is it that the greatest father in the universe longs to call you His child? Will you let Him, accepting the invitation to walk His path? If so, Proverbs 4:18 promises—your future will only get brighter!
