I was going through our craft box the other day and noticed these broken crayons at the bottom. “I don’t think the kids color with these anymore.” I thought to myself. As I started to collect the crayons into a trash bag, It hit me-
Broken crayons still color.
We live in a throw away, cancel culture, never good enough world.
But if you look in the Bible, God loves to use broken people to change the world.
Sarah was infertile.
Joseph was abused.
Job lost everything.
Elijah was defeated and depressed.
Gideon was scared.
Moses had a speech problem.
Rahab was a prostitute.
The Woman at the well had 5 husbands.
Noah was a drunk.
Jeremiah was too young.
David was an adulteress and murderer.
Jonah ran away from God.
Naomi was a widow.
Martha was a worrier.
Zacchaeus was too small.
And the Disciples fell asleep while praying.
I don’t know what you have gone through, but if you feel too broken today, I pray that this list encourages you! God doesn’t see you as broken and toss you away. He looks at you and says, “I can work with this.”
II Corinthians 4:8-9 “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
Looking back, God never used my proud, secure and stable moments to help someone. He used my broken marriage, insecurity, and anxiety.
If you can allow God to use your brokenness, he can take those pieces and still color a beautiful picture.
Trust the Artist.
I Googled different ways to reuse crayons. Who knew there were so many crafts you could do?! One way was to melt the crayons in the oven, forming a completely new crayon.
That is exactly what God does for us. He takes our brokenness and reshapes us, bringing beautiful qualities out of us we didn’t even know we had. He wants a humble heart that looks to him in the breaking.
Maybe this week you need to surrender to God everything that is breaking you- so he can reshape you.
