Broken Hearts and Broken Seashells
by Annie Yorty
Next week we’ll celebrate Valentine’s Day—a holiday meant for all kinds of heart connections. Friends exchange cards. Parents give gifts to children. Lovers plan romantic dates. But what about those with broken hearts? How can a wounded heart celebrate love?
Broken Seashells
My bare toes curled into chilly, wet sand as I stretched down for the perfect whelk—or so I thought. I turned it over to reveal a gaping hole. “What a shame,” my friend said.
Disappointment washed over me like the waves that curled over my feet. Yet something inside wouldn’t let me discard the broken shell. The damage revealed a secret beauty I would have missed had the shell been flawless.
I don’t know what broke this shell. Perhaps a bird’s sharp beak pecked its defenses to get at a tasty morsel inside. Or maybe the pounding surf tumbled the delicate whelk among heavy rocks that cracked its smooth exterior. Even calm ocean currents can wear on a shell over time.
I tucked the splintered treasure into my canvas bag and continued searching. Now my eyes didn’t skip over the fragments in favor of the unbroken shells.
Broken Hearts
Later that afternoon as I drove home, God’s Spirit used His creation to teach my spirit.
To all who mourn . . . he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. (Isaiah 61:3 NLT)
Like the busted shells scattered on the shoreline, our hearts are wrecked by the currents of this troubled world we inhabit.
Marriage failures rip apart two hearts joined as one flesh.
Neglectful or abusive parents create vulnerable children whose hearts gravitate toward harmful relationships.
A prodigal child pierces the heart of a loving mother with poison darts of betrayal.
Perpetual injustice hardens hearts.
The finality of death cleaves a chunk of the hearts of the ones left behind.
Chronic illness frays hearts clinging to hope by a thread.
Unfulfilled dreams and unrequited love make hearts sick.
Our own sinful thoughts, words, and deeds cripple our hearts.
God promises to create magnificence from the mess of shattered hearts. His redemption turns ashes to beauty, mourning to joy, and despair to praise. #brokenhearts #annieyorty Share on XHope for Broken Hearts
The shells I collected from the Florida beach that January traveled to Siberia with me a month later. I gave them as gifts to orphans I visited there. Living in a frozen land-locked tundra, most had never seen an ocean or owned a seashell.
Beyond the fascination of a novel object, the message of the broken shells shed the light of hope on the orphans’ broken hearts. Every shell was driven up onto the sand by a rough surf. In the same way, no one escapes life’s heart wounds.
Boys and girls whose parents had died or abandoned them already knew that part of the message. I’m sure you do too.
But the cracks and holes exposed the exquisite structure God placed inside the shells. God promises to create magnificence from the mess of shattered hearts too. His redemption turns ashes to beauty, mourning to joy, and despair to praise.
The Healer of Broken Hearts
Nature revealed the truth of God to heartbroken orphans in Siberia. They felt a kinship with the flawed seashells and sought healing found only in Jesus.
Jesus knew firsthand about the pain of this world. As He hung on the cross dying, the weight of sin and death demolished His heart. At that moment, He looked into the future and knew its sting would produce glorious victory for broken hearts through all time.
The victory of the cross extends its promise to every trouble we experience, every heartbreak we endure. If we have placed our faith in Jesus, we can count on this redemptive promise of God.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28 NLT)
Maybe even now you sense Jesus is healing your broken heart. This Valentine’s Day, peer through the cracks and holes. Can you see how God is revealing the hidden beauty He created there? Celebrate His amazing love this Valentine’s Day.
Join the conversation:
What hidden beauty has God revealed to you?
Copyright ©2024 Annie Yorty
Seize the Days
20 Comments
Barbara Latta
This is such a beautiful reminder of God’s redemptive love. Happy Valentines Day, Annie!
Annie Yorty
Thank you, Barbara. May God’s love be your strong tower every day.
J.D. Wininger
Reading your post, my mind drifted to the many years (while growing up in Florida) that I discovered, selected, and shared seashells). As a young boy, I was drawn to finding the most beautiful and perfect shell to share with my adopted mama. She deserved the very best I could offer. I often disregarded those that we broken, worn down, or damaged. “They weren’t good enough.”
Looking back upon those discoveries now, I wish I had then considered how they were a reflection of my life. Broken, damaged, worn down.
As I read more of your post Ms. Annie, my mind drifted to the Japanese custom of creating Kintsugi art pieces. In this method, they take cracked and damaged pottery and put it back together again with gold, to create masterful art pieces that exude far more beauty than when they were in their original form.
I like to picture in my mind’s eye a great hall in heaven, and lining those walls are so many broken vessels (representing those of us who have been reborn, saved by grace through faith) that have been lovingly pieced together through sanctification to become beautiful in His eyes. I picture Him taking one down, adding a piece and joining it together with His love.
Thank you for such a beautiful start to my day. God’s blessings precious sister-in-Christ.
Annie Yorty
You’ve added some wonderful examples to demonstrate how God creates beauty from our ashes. I have seen pictures of the Kintsugi art. Absolutely stunning!
Katherine Pasour
I always try to pick up just a few sea shells each time I visit the beach. I seldom find any that are not broken or flawed in some way. When I don’t find perfect ones, it reminds me of how flawed and imperfect I am. Yet, I know our Father loves me and is continuing to help me manage my weaknesses and use them in a way that serves Him. I’m so grateful for His mercy and grace.
Annie Yorty
Don’t you love how God’s creation declares truth to us? Amazing! Thank you for visiting, Katherine.
Amy
This was such a beautiful post. It was a balm to my soul on a morning the Lord knew I needed it.
Annie Yorty
I praise God for the love He’s shown to you, Amy. May He continue to minister to your every need.
Nancy E. Head
We’re all broken, but God heals and restores. He makes everything right in the end. We can trust Him through the holes and cracks of life. God bless!
Annie Yorty
Yes, He’s a master at restoring the shattered. (I think I heard that somewhere before. 😊) Thank you for visiting, Nancy.
Heidi Vertrees
Annie, thank you for tenderly ministering through this post. To think, some of God’s dear, broken shells, through your caring, traveled all the way to the interior of Siberia to be clutched by children with broken hearts as they learned to yield their trust to God. 🐚💕🙏
Annie Yorty
Heidi, thank you for your kind words. God has been good to use me, broken as I am, for His glory. He does that for all of us. Blessings to you!
Debbie Wilson
Annie, I like how you saw those broken places allowed us to see the hidden beauty and structure in the shells. What a special gift to children who’ve never visited an ocean, expecially with the lesson you added.
Annie Yorty
Thank you, Debbie. The kids loved receiving those seashells. They were truly a God-inspired gift. Thanks for visiting!
Candyce Carden
Being a fan of beaches everywhere, I really enjoyed this post. Isn’t it awesome how God uses Creation to demonstrate His love and care for us? Thank you for sharing your beautiful insights.
Annie Yorty
So true, Candyce. When we slow down and pay attention, we learn much about God through His creation. Thanks for visiting!
Yvonne Morgan
I loved this message Annie. God can truly turn our broken hearts into something beautiful. I loved how you took those broken shells on a mission trip and used them in your stories to the orphans. Thank you Annie.
Annie Yorty
Yvonne, our God is amazing! Thank you for your encouragement. Blessings!
Marilyn Nutter
Valentine’s Day can be a rough day for many- those whose marriages have ended through death or divorce; those who are single and long to be a couple, and those who have felt unloved for a number of reasons. My stability has been knowing God’s love is constant. The Bible uses terms like unfailing and steadfast love. Though not the romantic love we are bombarded with in the media, it is pure and unconditional. He does heal the brokenhearted and binds up wounds by His presence and faithful to live up to His promises.
Annie Yorty
Marilyn, yes! Isn’t the word “unfailing” so comforting? Happy Valentine’s Day to you.