The Royal Palace of Tehran, Iran, displays one of the most beautiful mosaic works in the world. Its ceilings and walls flash with awesome brilliance as though faced with thousands of diamonds sparkling with multifaceted reflections.
The architect’s original design of the palace specified huge glass sheets of mirrors be fitted to cover the walls. However, when the workmen opened the first shipment, they were stunned to find that the mirrors had been shattered. The contractor had them thrown into the trash, and then broke the sad news to the architect.
Surprisingly, the architect ordered all of the broken pieces of mirrors collected. He then had them smashed into tiny pieces and glued to the ceiling and wall surfaces, thereby creating a stunning mosaic of sparkling bits of broken mirrors.
How many “prodigal sons,” experiencing the heartache of a ruined life, have, amid the filth and despair of the pigpen, finally come to themselves, finding that their once-promising life now seems nothing more than a worthless pile of broken, useless fragments of mirrored glass. It appears impossible that anything beautiful, satisfying or rewarding could be rebuilt from such chaos.
But God . . .
Our blessed God—all-perfect, all-wise, all-loving, all-good and all-powerful—is the divine Architect. He is near those who have broken, contrite hearts. It is to the one who confesses and forsakes the path of self-will to whom God shows Himself “ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy.”
David had run from Saul’s threats against his life to the enemies of God’s people, seeking there to find protection. All the faith that he exhibited against the mighty giant Goliath now seemed nothing more than a shattered pile of broken glass. Then, in the very midst of his seemingly ruined life (when all that he and his followers loved had been stolen), when his own men, because of their great grief, “spake of stoning him,” we read that “David encouraged himself in the Lord” (1 Sam. 30).
After this, the shattered pieces of failure were put back together by the divine Architect. When David asked the Lord what he should do (after encouraging himself in the Lord), we read, “And David enquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And He answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all” (1 Sam. 30:88And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. (1 Samuel 30:8)).
And what a bountiful recovery it was! “David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David recovered all” (1 Sam. 30:18-1918And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. 19And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all. (1 Samuel 30:18‑19)). Beauty out of ruin!
Ed.