As a pastor’s wife, I often have the joy of attending bridal showers or baby showers for young women in our church. One particular day I headed out the front door to attend a bridal shower, with a wrapped gift in hand. As I stepped onto our sidewalk, the gift packaging in my hand broke loose and the gift crashed to the sidewalk below.

I knew instantly that the gift, a ceramic casserole set, was destroyed. Sounds of shattering glass and slivers of broken shards confirmed this. After a moment of deep disappointment, all I could do was scoop up the pieces, leave them in the house, and drive to the store to purchase another one on my way to the bridal shower.

None of us plans our brokenness. If we had our way, there would be no such thing as brokenness. Our journey through life would be neat and tidy, not littered with the evidence of shattered lives and broken dreams. But we do not get to choose when and how brokenness enters our lives. No one asks when we would like to put cancer on our calendars or divorce in our daily routine. Sorrow unexpectedly knocks on our door and we are compelled to bid it enter, against our wishes.

The ceramic shards I scooped up were accompanied by frustration and a few tears. I didn’t need this to happen on that particular day. But my anger did nothing to fix the brokenness. No amount of frustration, no amount of grasping for control, will make brokenness go away. We can only trust the divine hand of God and ask for His help to accept what He has designed for us. And we can be thankful we have a sovereign God who has our ultimate good in mind, even when things don’t appear to be that way.

Finding thankfulness in our unexpected brokenness isn’t easy. But we can find comfort in these words from the psalmist: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”  (Psalm 24:18).  God can turn our brokenness into something beautiful. And for this we can be thankful.