Have you ever been in a funk?  I have; I spent much of last week in one. Most days I arise from bed tired, but joyful, a side effect of being a Christian and a very blessed woman. But last week I mostly wanted to stay in bed.

I’m not sure why, though some of it likely is related to my previous blog post. My sister’s death was a dark time, and I spend as little time reflecting on that as possible. But when I return to my hometown, reflection is inevitable, because Judy grew up there too.

Anyway, last week I was low energy, very tired emotionally, somewhat crabby, and definitely lacking in joy.  Which was a problem when Sunday morning rolled around…because I’m a worship leader at my church. If I’m not ready to worship God, filled with His Spirit on Sunday morning, things don’t go well. Technology inevitably gives me trouble; the congregation seems listless; I feel like I’m slogging through Jello.

So last Sunday morning on my drive to church, I apologized to God for my lack of joy and my listlessness and asked Him to help clear up that thundercloud before the service. I remember praying, “Lord, I’m sorry I’m so broken today; help lift up my head so I can worship You!”

And I felt His reply in my spirit: “Broken people are all I have.”

It’s so true. We think we can clean ourselves up and come to God and give Him something – our hearts, yes, but our actions and our best efforts. We are like children, submitting a clumsy drawing to the Master Painter. And we delude ourselves that we are BETTER THAN THEM and DOING ALL RIGHT, as if God grades on a curve.

But the truth is, we are all broken. Every person who ever walked this earth, except Christ, was broken. Broken people are all God has to work with. But He does amazing things through broken people when they belong to Him and obey Him.

A quote from Philip Yancey’s book, “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” has been stuck in my head for years. I actually had it taped to my computer monitor for many months. “Imperfection is the prerequisite for grace. Light only gets in through the cracks…Our wounds and defects are the very fissures through which grace might pass.”

God uses broken people, yielded to Him, to do beautiful things for His glory.