When Job heard the news of the death of his children he collapsed in shock and felt unbearable waves of pain. Later, after losing everything he was afflicted with ugly boils. He picked up a piece of pottery and scraped his sores.  This pottery piece symbolized Job’s life once alive and full but now shattered and dry. “And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself with; and he sat down among the ashes” (Job 2:8). 

It seemed to Job that his life (earthen vessel) was dashed in pieces but actually rather than his life ending, God was about to make Jobs life fuller than ever.   Jobs restoration was not accomplished when God doubled the number of his children or his bank account but when Job was able to process his mounting grief and see himself and God a lot clearer. “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself And repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6)

Humans are designed to grieve yet grief is something we need to choose to enter into and not suppress. Grief is the one feeling that can heal all the other emotions we feel from loss, betrayal, abandonment and hurt. Part of grief is being able to embrace the mysteries in our life and be able to say “I am bewildered and have no idea what God is doing”. Or “Yes I’m hurt; I’m disappointed, even angry that God seems to have forsaken me”.  Embracing the fact of our limitations means we accept that we have limited knowledge and spiritual understanding.  Jobs friends and some of us still today, too easily overestimate our grasp of a situation, as we look at the difficult times in our friend’s lives or ours and wrongly judge people and God.  We need to assume the humble position of bowing before God instead of trying to be Him. It’s healing. In times of emotional pain, I have walked the streets of my neighbourhood in tears crying out to Father. I went out looking for understanding and came back only with peace.

If you feel today like a dry potsherd (broken fragment) embrace it.  Cry your tears and groan your groans before the Lord.  Coming to the end of our wisdom and control over life is something we experience so that the One we are designed to need can be found and the one we are designed to reveal, can be seen.

Friend, embrace your limitations and bow before Loving Wisdom. Don’t doubt God but doubt your understanding.  The trouble with being unbroken is that nobody ever sees Who lives within.