A few years ago, I was taking a walk through my neighborhood. There are about fourteen hundred homes in our neighborhood, so lots of miles to walk. Just a week before, a tornado had dipped into our city leaving behind widespread damage. It was amazing to see the many blocked roads where whole trees and broken limbs had fallen.

As I walked past one house, I noticed that a Bradford pear tree had split in half. The trunk was pretty much intact, but the top part where all the branches were was a mess. Many of the limbs were on the ground. I thought to myself, “They might as well get someone to remove that tree. It is damaged and will never come back to life.”

For several years following the tornado, I continued to walk in the neighborhood. On most occasions, I passed that ugly tree, wishing the homeowners would have it removed. Then, an amazing thing happened as I walked this year. That Bradford pear is now perfectly shaped, and its limbs are full. It is as if the storm never came. The tree looks perfect with the exception of a scar where a limb had once been. The scar covered the broken place; the place of the wound was now healed and the tree flourished again.

The Bradford pear had been broken but was now whole.

Most of us have encountered storms of life, and some of them have left deep wounds. Wounds of abuse. Wounds of deep rejection. Wounds of monetary loss. Wounds of betrayal. Wounds of church hurt. Wounds of assault. Wounds of loss. Wounds of abandonment by the ones we thought we could trust. Wounds of – I could go on and on. Tornadoes come and they are very damaging.

The owners of the broken Bradford pear tree did not give up on it just because it was broken. The Bradford pear did not give up on itself. It continued to drink from the earth and lift its arms to the sunny sky. Faithfully, day after day, the tree hung in there, and now it is one of the healthiest looking trees in the neighborhood. It is beautiful.

Has your life been hit by a tornado? Does your life seem broken and beyond repair? Your brokenness may feel unmendable right now. I have been there. Let me encourage you today – there is a God who spends his days mending broken things. Maybe your brokenness is too deep to put into words. You cannot see past today, and you do not want to face tomorrow. You cannot imagine a way out. The lid has rolled over the opening, and no sunlight peeks through the cracks.

Dear friend, the broken parts of your story don’t make you a broken person. You are still the whole, loved, purpose-filled person God created you to be. The storms that you have endured are not lost on God. Our scars can become powerful testaments of the God who is at work.

Do not give up! Your owner, God, is not giving up on you. Please do not give up on yourself. Our brokenness does not stop the unlimited power of God from working in our behalf. Keep drinking deeply from the fountain of God. Lift those heavy hands towards heaven in surrender. Give God time to restore the broken places. He is working amid the wounds of our stories. One day you will look in the mirror and see the healing power of God.

“‘For I will restore health to you, and I will heal your wounds,’ says the Lord.” – Jeremiah 30:17. “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows].” – Psalm 147:3. (AMP)