Broken Smile: Beauty of Brokenness Revealed

I remember one afternoon driving home in my car, still thinking about those words someone had said to me earlier at work: “You have a beautiful smile.” I brushed it off, changed the subject, because deep down… I didn’t believe it. Because my smile—well, it didn’t feel beautiful to me.

And, as if someone was eavesdropping in my thoughts, I heard the Holy Spirit say, “use it”, “use that smile to win people to God” And right there in my car, with tears rolling down my face feeling like I was 5 years old again trying to control my sobs, I said out loud, “But it’s broken. My smile it’s broken” And Holy Spirit whispered back, “That’s why it’s beautiful.”

To me my smile felt broken because, I smiled to hide my pain. I smiled when I wanted to cry. I smiled when my heart was falling apart. It wasn’t joy… it was survival. It wasn’t beauty… it was brokenness.

Like many of you, I used to believe that once something was broken, it was done with. You throw it out. You replace it. Broken things don’t have value. But God doesn’t see it that way. He uses broken pieces. He uses broken hearts. He uses broken lives. And He uses them to shine His glory in ways that perfection never could.

So, let me ask you—what’s broken in your life? Because the truth is… broken doesn’t mean unusable. Broken means moldable.

In the next few minutes, I want to show you what brokenness looks like through a vision that the Lord showed me while I was crying over my broken smile in my car.

We were in a room and before me was a table with three lamps.

1.     The Perfect Lamp

The first lamp was flawless. No cracks, no chips. Its light shone upward toward the ceiling—beautiful, but it only shone vertically. This lamp resembled someone who have never been through brokenness. They love God, their light shines toward Him… but they can’t relate to the pain of others. Like Perfect Patty, who works in the office, she can quote scripture and has great knowledge of the bible but has no compassion for single moms who are raising their children on their own.

2.     The Unrepaired Lamp

The second lamp was shattered, completely destroyed. The light was on, but it was dim. There was a heap of shattered pieces on the light, you could barely see the light shining through the broken pieces. This lamp resembled someone who hasn’t yet surrendered their broken pieces to God. The light is still in them, but no one else can see it. This is like the uncle who doesn’t like to cry because he sees it as weakness, so he holds all these shattered pieces together hoping no one will notice.

3.     The Repaired Lamp

The third lamp its cracks are visible, you can tell it had been damaged. It’s broken and has been repaired. When the light shines, the light bursts not just upward, but out through the cracks. The glue that held the broken pieces together reflected the light and it was beautiful. It out shone the first lamp. This lamp resembled someone who’s been through brokenness, and allowed God to mold and heal them. Their light shines toward God and outward toward people. Their brokenness is now their ministry. Like Pastor Tom that has been through divorce, lost a grandchild, been through addiction, and survived a traumatic ordeal when he got shot by accident.

So which lamp are you today? The perfect lamp—hard to relate? The broken lamp—still holding onto shattered pieces? Or the repaired lamp—shining through your cracks?

Here’s the truth:

• Your broken smile can still shine joy.

• Your broken heart can still love deeply.

• Your broken spirit can still worship stronger than ever before.

I’ve learned to embrace my broken smile. I smile through tears. I smile through pain. And now I smile knowing that God is using even the cracks of my life to let His light shine through me.

If I don’t smile, someone else might not see what God’s joy looks like when it’s healed. If I don’t share my story, someone else might not believe theirs is worth telling. And if I don’t step into my brokenness, someone else might never know that God can make beauty out of shattered pieces.

If this message is stirring something inside of you, if you’ve ever felt like you’re holding it together with broken pieces, then I want to invite you to join my Battle Box community where we embrace each other's brokenness and encourage each other to heal through their pain. Because sometimes the most powerful thing we can do… is keep smiling through the cracks together.