How God Brings New Life Through Brokenness
“Behold, I make all things new.” — Revelation 21:5
During Lent, our leader Nate often turned to a rich and earthy metaphor: farming. He reminded us that new life grows out of what seems like waste—compost. From broken stalks and decaying matter, seeds find the nourishment they need to sprout. Life comes not in spite of death and decay, but through it.
One of my friends Dave, drawing from a very different field— metallurgy— shared a strikingly similar image. He explained that metals that have been stressed, bent, or beaten in the forging process undergo a transformation. With the application of gentle, consistent heat and time, a process called recrystallization occurs. From the most stressed and damaged areas, new grain structures begin to form. The metal doesn’t lose its essence—but its internal structure is reborn: stress-free, renewed, and stronger than before.
This pairing of metaphors—soil and steel—offers a deeply hopeful truth: God uses pressure, decay, and heat not to destroy us, but to remake us.
Biblical Reflections
Romans 8:28 reminds us: “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Even in the compost. Even in the crucible.
2 Corinthians 4:16–17 speaks to this renewal: “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”
James 1:2–4 echoes the refining process: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials… because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance… so that you may be mature and complete.”
A Word from the Saints
Walter Brueggemann once wrote, “Hope is not simple optimism… but a bold conviction that God is tenaciously at work to redeem.” Both the compost pile and the forge are places of tenacious redemption.
William Barclay commented that the Christian life is often forged in adversity: “Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory.”
Eugene Peterson, paraphrasing Romans 12:1 in The Message, writes: “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” Even when life feels decayed or scorched, it can still be offered—and transformed.
Conclusion: A New Substance, Same Chemistry
Whether your life feels like it’s breaking down or being hammered into shape, know this: God is not wasting any part of the process.
From the decomposed comes growth.
From the forged comes strength.
From the ashes, resurrection.
Let us trust in the God who says: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19)
May we learn to see Lent not only as a season of giving up, but of being reshaped—so that by Easter, we emerge not just restored, but reborn.
Amen.
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