Broken Pieces
I have been in contact with several broken women. The Holy Spirit prompted me to go back to last year’s archives and re-print this from “Tiffany Heart – Alabaster Box from Issue 2, before the blog was set up.
May it minister to you and help you through your dark place and know that you just as I have been redeemed.
Read the article below and then let the YouTube Videos minister to your heart.
My Own Alabaster Box
There once was a girl who had been given talents extended by God’s grace. She never took the credit for that which God had provided. She was wholesome and happy with her life. She didn’t care for status or title, and was known only as Rose.
She served her family, and friends with joy. She enjoyed her work very, very much. Everything she did she strived to do her best.
Her life was an open book. Alas, Rose had a transparent heart. Life was good as she knew it. She didn’t have romantic love, but it would come to her transparent heart, and then surely it would pulsate with joy and she would feel the crimson shades of love in her heart.
She longed to find love and knew that it would come one day. She didn’t believe you had to go out and look for it, because if it was meant to be, then love would find her. She had always been told that she was selfless. Her full name, Alma Rosa, could be translated into pure soul, innocent soul. Surely she would be blessed by love.
Then came the day when everything changed.
She met a man. He was clothed as Prince Appeal. He was older, and had lived a full life, and told her he had been on great adventures. Her heart was swept away. She gave her heart to this man. She felt her transparent heart pulsate with crimson love.
Her transparent heart turned out to be easily manipulated, and weak. She came to find that Prince Appeal was really Baron Malevolence himself. There was no crimson love in his heart, only gray famine, for he lived without hope and without Grace itself.
The day came when her crimson heart shattered, and the transparency in her heart was so, that she could not have foretold that Baron Malevolence would hurt her so, because she trusted him blindly. Baron Malevolence had a heart so black that he could not even fathom that she would take hold of her roots and self, and rise and call them by name, and break through the fortress he had built in her mind, and his strongholds. The once crimson heart, woven with transparency, shattered into a million pieces.
Although the heart of Rose was broken, and her exterior-self had fissures that would seemingly spew great waves of sorrow, much less be able to contain her heart, she bravely picked up the shattered pieces of crimson and transparency which had formed her heart, put them in her box of alabaster and held them close, cooing and rocking back and forth, trying to reassure her spirit and broken heart, that somehow morning would come and the sun would shine for her, for she had read that Joy cometh in the morning.
She grappled through the dark tunnel and down a hollow shaft and made it to daybreak. She saw a marker on the road, which had the address of Romans 8, paths 38 and 39, which indicated that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”.
Just then, the sun pierced through the darkness she had come to know and she was temporarily blinded by the intensity of the sun and the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. She was in emotional chaos, as the sun’s warmth shocked her senses, as she realized that she had lived in cold forbidding shadows far too long. She had compromised everything she knew, and she realized that any compromise at any level had only resulted in further compromise, until there was no real self left.
As she leaned against the marker on the road, waiting for a carriage to take her from the God-forsaken village behind her, she found her foot on the ROCK OF AGES, and she remembered the words which had been ingrained into her self and heart. They had been hidden in her heart, and just as she had learned in times of trouble, she was not alone. She remembered the words of a faithful servant Paul who served the Lord of the FORTRESS of the LIVING WORD. The words seemed to resonate in her head and entire self, and shook her to her core. Yes, she would go there, for she also knew HIM by name, but wasn’t sure if HE still wanted to call her by name.
There in the middle of the most lowest moment of her life, bereft of all she had thought to be true, Rose humbly recognized GRACE, and in the middle of her pain, reached out and cried for GRACE, and instead of crying why me, why this, her trembling lips said, THANK YOU, thank you for saving me from this wretched existence. I don’t understand now, and I don’t know how I am going to make it through this, but I still know you, and I ask you to let me recognize that your GRACE is sufficient.
With BLESSED ASSURANCE by her side, she made it to the citadel, which was at the foot of the FORTRESS of the LIVING WORD, where she found sanctuary for her broken heart, tired spirit and defeated body. The address read: Jeremiah 31:3: Because I love you with an everlasting love.
Rose’s pain was great and she would often go down the lane, to the garden of Deuteronomy 4:29: If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me… She would hold her heart and look at it and be struck that she would never be able to put it together again. She tortured her mind questioning her reasoning and how she had come down this down-trodden path and circumstances.
As deep as her sorrow was, she could not let herself wallow in her own sorrow. Who was she to say, that this was the end for her. She didn’t dare be so presumptive, as to decide that there was no more for her. After all, wasn’t she relation to the kingdom? Was she not destined with a purpose?
As she kept her crimson and transparency in her box of alabaster, some of the shattered pieces took on a hue of purple and blue, but there was really no form to her heart. So off she went to the Potter’s House, he lived in the fork in the road of Genesis 1:27, in the Village of Psalms 139: Building 13 and 14. Rose asked the Potter to somehow give her heart its shape. “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.”
As the months passed on into years, with the help of her family and beloved pet, some of the pieces took on a tinge of yellow, orange and pink, but always with a slight tinge of gray.
As the days and months passed the edges of the pieces took on a little black and silver, which served to bond the broken pieces.
As she struggled to regain her sense of self, and barged on, facing new beginnings, she set out to find Jeremiah who lived in building 29, apartment 11, and he said, my plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Upon meeting him, some of the pieces of her heart took on a hue of green, as she gladly made friends with HOPE.
Before she knew it time had passed, and as she looked around she realized that although tiny tears sometimes leaked through the fissures, she realized that she had been saved by GRACE who resided in the land of John 3:16.
She rode on the wings of Angels, with those she had met on the way, Charity, simplicity, and Grace.
She learned how to call GRACE by name, and as GRACE stood by her, she dared to open her box of alabaster and look at the transparent heart. At these times, she would often put on her garment of Psalm 34:18, when you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. He had given her a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, he had taken all the burnt ruins (BEAUTY FOR ASHES) and given her the oil of JOY FOR MOURNING provided through Grace in the mountain top of ISAIAH 61:3. She poured this oil of joy in her alabaster box.
Her heart seemed so fragile, as she lifted it up for GRACE to take a look, and then GRACE took her hand and held her arms out toward the sun, not letting her falter. GRACE washed the bonded fragments with the oil of anointing. The fragments, with a chip here and there of course, had allianced themselves into a splendid tapestry with hues of crimson, gold and purple, royal colors. There was pink, orange and yellow and green too, and yes there was a bit of transparency for good measure. There were areas where you were not sure what hue it was and the colors formed prisms and sunburst of color.
Rose gasped as she looked at the once shattered pieces, for they had melded back into the shape of a heart, and as she held it up toward the sun, the light pierced through the tiny fissures and illuminated her self. As Rose tapped on the heart gently, she learned that it was quite resilient, the shattered pieces had been through the fire and fashioned into a tiffany-like tapestry with ribbons of light.
She knew that this heart had been hard to come by and she had paid a great price. She held it up to the sun and toward GRACE, and she paid particular attention to every shade and blush of color in her heart, her tiffany heart. She was in awe of the reflections of GRACE. Her perspective was directed by the WORD.
Grace told her to appreciate the brilliance and beauty of the tiffany heart, and she knew that the coming together of these prisms of light had cost her, and she knew each tint and hue had been forged, and she knew that she did not have any uncertainties, because having known someone like Baron Malevolence and then going to the opposite extreme, had shown her the bounty of kindness, generosity and compassion not only in her self but also in those she loved.
Rose would take the box of alabaster and her tiffany heart and place them in a prominent place and give the heart its due, and allow the sunlight and GRACE to shine through to bless others. She had come to live under God’s wing and placed her life, her hopes, dreams and future in him. Her spirit sang joyfully, while her heart smiled. Her soul had been healed. She had forgiven those who had hurt her, because her joy was full indeed. She was destined with a purpose.
She came to live in the house of Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’” She knew that prosperity is not measured in wealth or monetary gain, but in loved ones and things not palpable.
This is part of my story. If you are going through or have gone through anything similar, I would say hold onto God, but that is not enough, rather cleave to God because he is the only one who can keep the waters from taking us under. Trust in God’s word as you scale the mountain, use his promises as a foothold or the crevice in the rock to get your bearings. Cleave to God, as your life depends on it, because it does, eternal life. Maybe the darkest moment, or that mountain that seems to high to climb, or the bitter tears or anxiety, maybe these things are the very things that will bring you into your victory, and into new levels of faith.
Let’s also consider forgiveness, because it was part of the lesson. I don’t want you to think that it was easy or that I did it to be holy. In the beginning, it was the only way I could preserve my own sense of self-worth. You know not forgiving others, can lead to hate, and that is a cancer that will eat away at you. It later became about forgiving, because we will not be forgiven for our wrongdoings. It took time but the Lord brought me to a place where I could pray for that person who had hurt me. God’s word says that we must bless those that curse us, pray for those that mistreat you (Luke 6:28 –New American Standard Bible); also (Matthew 5:44 – King James version) – But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
In seeking forgiveness from God and seeking to forgive others, I clung to Psalm 32. I encourage you to read this beautiful Psalm. In the midst of your journey, let God be your “hiding place”. An excerpt from Psalms, 5,6,7-King James Version reads as follows: “I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgivest the iniquity of my sin. Selah. For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: surely in the floods of great waters they shall not come nigh unto him. Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.
I want to tell you that in my period of disobedience bac then and living with one foot in Church and the other “testing” the waters, you can lose yourself as I did, and not realize it. You compromise once, twice, and soon right and wrong do not trouble your conscience. God’s grace is amazing because he can take the mess we make, and use it for his glory.
Perhaps the thought has crossed your mind, and you have said to yourself, how embarrassing, how can she share something like this? I will tell you why, how else can I reach someone who finds themselves in a similar situation. In order to reflect God’s grace and mercy you have to share how “real” God has been in your “real” situation. I knew in writing this story that I might be judged, but I remembered that King David chose the mercy of God, rather than that of man, when he failed God. Our goals and our perspectives need to be set by the Word of God, rather than that of the world. I hope that this will help you move forward through the darkness. Don’t miss what the Lord has planned and promised to be true and rightfully yours.
You know if you refer to the meaning of numbers in the Bible, I believe it is called Numerology in Theology, the number “7” equals rest, completion, finishing, the year of restoration. When completing this story of the Alabaster box, it struck me that this is the seventh year of my restoration journey. I do not consider that a coincidence. I believe I was to share this story for such a time as this, it was destined with a purpose. With much love….Alma
