Opening Verse: “For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” — Psalm 30:5
Have you ever felt completely shattered? Maybe it was a devastating failure, a painful rejection, or an unexpected loss that left you wondering if anything good could possibly emerge from your brokenness. We’ve all experienced those dark nights of the soul—moments when our circumstances appear irredeemable and the morning light seems impossibly distant. Yet throughout Scripture, we encounter a recurring theme: God’s greatest work often begins in our deepest brokenness. The passages we’ll explore today reveal how God radically transforms lives, not despite our brokenness, but often through it. From Saul’s blinding encounter on the Damascus road to Peter’s restoration by the lakeside, we’ll discover that in God’s kingdom, brokenness is never the end of the story—it’s often just the beginning of a divine rewrite that surpasses anything we could author ourselves.
From Persecutor to Proclaimer (Acts 9:1-20)
The story of Saul’s conversion is perhaps the most dramatic rewrite in Scripture. Here was a man “breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,” so convinced of his righteous cause that he sought permission to imprison anyone following “the Way.” His identity was firmly anchored in his religious zeal and his opposition to this new Jesus movement. Then, in a moment that would alter the trajectory of Christianity itself, Saul encountered the risen Christ in blinding light.
Notice what happened: Saul didn’t just receive new information—he experienced complete disorientation. For three days, he sat in darkness, neither eating nor drinking. Everything he had built his life upon was suddenly called into question. His physical blindness mirrored his spiritual condition—he had been blind to the very God he thought he was serving. Sometimes God’s most unexpected rewrites begin with this kind of holy disruption, where what we thought we knew is suddenly upended, creating space for a new narrative to emerge.
The Dawn After Darkness (Psalm 30)
David’s testimony in Psalm 30 provides the emotional soundtrack to God’s story revisions. “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing,” he proclaims. This is not the voice of someone who has never suffered, but of someone who has walked through the valley and emerged on the other side. David acknowledges both the reality of God’s discipline (“His anger is but for a moment”) and the greater reality of His restoration (“His favor is for life”).
What’s striking about David’s psalm is his honesty about his prior complacency: “Now in my prosperity I said, ‘I shall never be moved.'” How often do we fall into this same trap? When life is comfortable, we easily forget our dependence on God. Sometimes it takes the ground shifting beneath our feet to remind us where our true security lies. David’s experience reminds us that God’s ultimate goal isn’t our comfort but our transformation—not merely to bless us, but to rewrite our stories in ways that allow us to know Him more deeply.
The Everlasting Chorus (Revelation 5:11-14)
From the personal rewrites of individuals, we zoom out to the grand cosmic scene in Revelation 5. John’s vision reveals countless angels, living creatures, elders, and ultimately every creature in heaven and earth united in thunderous worship of “the Lamb who was slain.” This is the ultimate rewritten story—the crucified Jesus now exalted and receiving universal adoration.
What’s amazing here is that Jesus is worshiped precisely as “the Lamb who was slain.” His wounds weren’t erased in His exaltation; they became the very basis for it. The marks of His suffering became the marks of His victory. This heavenly scene reminds us that our own wounds and brokenness aren’t something God simply removes; rather, in His redemptive work, they become integral to our testimony and possibly our greatest contribution to His kingdom. Just as Christ’s wounds forever tell the story of His love, our healed brokenness tells the story of His grace.
From Failure to Calling (John 21:1-19)
The scene shifts to a lakeside in Galilee, where Peter—who had denied Jesus three times—now faces his risen Lord. After a night of empty nets, the disciples encounter Jesus on the shore, though they don’t immediately recognize Him. His simple instruction to cast their nets on the right side results in an overwhelming catch—153 large fish. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “What has been fruitless in your strength becomes abundantly fruitful in My presence.”
The conversation that follows between Jesus and Peter is one of the most tender story rewrites in Scripture. Three times Jesus asks, “Do you love Me?”—once for each denial—giving Peter the opportunity to affirm what his actions had previously denied. Notice that Jesus doesn’t minimize Peter’s failure or pretend it didn’t happen. Instead, He walks Peter through it toward healing and renewed purpose. Each time Peter affirms his love, Jesus responds with commission: “Feed My lambs… Tend My sheep… Feed My sheep.” Peter’s restoration isn’t just about personal comfort; it culminates in calling and purpose.
Conclusion: The Divine Author at Work
These four passages reveal a consistent pattern in God’s story-rewriting work. Whether it’s Saul’s journey from persecutor to apostle, David’s movement from mourning to dancing, the slain Lamb’s exaltation to universal worship, or Peter’s path from denial to commission—we see that God’s transformation often follows a similar narrative arc: disruption, darkness, dawn, and new direction.
This is the extraordinary hope of the gospel: our failures, wounds, and brokenness are not the end of our story but often just the beginning of a divine rewrite. The places where we have been most deeply broken often become the places where God inserts the most powerful plot twists. Our tears, when surrendered to Him, water the seeds of ministry that will later flourish in ways we could never have imagined.
The question isn’t whether your story needs rewriting—all of ours do. The question is whether you’ll surrender the pen to the Master Storyteller who sees beyond the current chapter to the glorious conclusion He has planned. As Leonard Cohen famously wrote, “There is a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” In God’s economy, that’s also how the light gets out.
Points to Ponder
- Where in your life are you experiencing a “Damascus Road” disruption that might actually be God beginning to rewrite your story?
- Like David in Psalm 30, can you identify places where your prosperity led to self-reliance rather than allowing God to be the author of your life?
- In what ways has suffering in your life produced plot developments that now enable you to minister to others in unique ways?
- Are there areas where, like Peter, you’ve experienced failure that Jesus might want to transform into a platform for ministry?
- How might your rewritten story become part of the cosmic chorus of praise to “the Lamb who was slain”?
Prayer
Lord, thank You for being the Lamb who was slain, who rewrites our stories when they seem beyond redemption. Give us the courage to face our failures and wounds honestly, knowing that You’re not intimidated by our messiness. Help us surrender our self-written narratives to You, trusting that You can create something more beautiful than we could have crafted on our own. When we’re in dark chapters, remind us that joy comes in the morning. And when transformation comes, may we, like Saul, David, and Peter, use our rewritten stories to proclaim Your faithfulness to others. Make us living testimonies of Your redemptive love, joining the chorus of praise that will sing throughout eternity. Amen.
Closing Verse: “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” — John 21:18-19
Josh Cehulik 