The Japanese art form called Kintsugi is one in which “the breaks and repairs of a vessel are treated as a part of the object’s history.” The artist uses a mixture of resin infused with powdered gold to repair a piece, resulting in far greater beauty.

Often in life wounds are received, through the hazardous situations or conditions that we must live through. Sometimes these are of our own doing through choices we make. Strangely enough, these experiences within our histories, the broken places, can make us truly “beautiful”—even more useful.

There was a time in my life when I was broken after suffering domestic violence. Hospitalized, I wondered how my life would go from then on. There were scares that took years to heal, the worst of which were emotional and unseen. Those were times of leaning on God and learning to let Him take the lead in my life. The words “wounded healer” were found within the spiritual books read. And, that is what I became.

What I found hardest to bear were those broken places that were caused by my going my own way versus following “the way” Jesus taught. But the most enthralling thing of life is to find all is forgiven when we ask. It takes time to really bring that truth “on home,” before I could accept it as my own, becoming truly able to see it as pertaining to me.

Looking back over my life, it is clear that some of the “derailing” times of my life that called for getting back on track, served me later within my work as a mental health counselor. When women spoke of mistakes over which they grieved and found hard to forgive, I had compassion for them. I had been in those moccasins. Without having known the shame and guilt of my failures, how could such feelings for others be truly felt? God does turn all experiences to good when we love Him and follow His call on our lives. In the process, He transforms us. That is promised in Romans 8:28. If we say we have no sin, we are liars! “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23)

You may say, “Where is God. How can I talk with God?” Many thousands of years ago, a mighty man named Job, discovered how God was speaking to him. Looking back on his troubles, Job said, “Look I go forward, but He is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive Him; when He works on the left hand, I cannot behold Him; When He turns to the right hand, I cannot see Him. But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold,” (Job 23:9-10).

It is that “worked out gold” that brings those broken pieces together—and gives us a heart refined.