I don’t know about you, maybe it’s just the creative genes I carry, but as a child (and I’ll hesitantly admit - even now) I found so much pleasure from a brand new box of crayons. Oh, and bring out that big box and I was enthralled.
Colorful labels all pointed in the same direction, crowned with sharp tips, just sitting there awaiting their first chance to be taken into a hand and make something beautiful and colorful. Absolutely inspiring to me!
Isn’t that how we all walk out onto this road of life? With excitement and wonder? With purpose? Expecting to accomplish great things and make a difference? We stand tall and confidently ready to shine bright and be beautiful.
Backtracking to my childhood days, as excited as I was to dive into coloring, I knew the pointed crayon tips would soon begin to round off. How wonderful was that little black sharpener they inserted into the back of the box? With a little finagling, I could manage to get the point back again. However, as life often does, it would happen all over and I’d have to sharpen again and again. Until...
There is only so much crayon there to begin with. Maybe three inches or so? Eventually, I’d be left with something too small to use. The paper label would get all chewed up from the sharpener making them less attractive. Even if it didn’t happen that way, sometimes the colorful crayons would break when too much force was applied. Oh, and the awfully dreadful thought of leaving a crayon box in a car in the middle of July. Ugh! What a waste!
How often do we feel like life uses us up or breaks us down until we’re seemingly nothing more than small and unseen? Unnecessary. Used up. Spent. Broken. Are there times when we feel like we’re melting under the heat of our days? Yes. Not quite sure who we are any more after life altering events change us? Yes. We may feel like our purpose and usefulness has all but vanished. Yet...
Can I have your attention, please!? Lean in and let me tell you a secret.
Have you ever Googled the stuff a person can create with broken and battered crayons? Oh my! If not, I challenge you to do so. Even the melted ones! You’d be amazed. The possibilities are endless, my friend.
Beauty isn’t just for the new guys or gals fresh out of the box...it’s for the used up “has beens” too.
All this made me think of the verse in 2 Corinthians, especially the end part, “...behold, all things are become new.”
Seriously, no matter where our life roads take us, no matter the unseemly condition we find ourselves in this season, God can ALWAYS make things new again if we’ll give our broken pieces and places to Him. We may not look exactly like we did when we came out of His box, but we can be a new creation again. No. Matter. What.
We cannot be so battered, broken, insignificant or melted that He cannot still make something beautiful out of our lives.
Here’s a quick side note too: He doesn’t even have to look at Google for ideas. He’s much bigger and better than that, isn’t He? After all, He came to a manger as a baby when He was the King! He has all kinds of unimaginably, amazing ideas and possibilities for us too. God has plans.
I just wanted to share this simple thought and hopefully inspire each of us to take a deep breath and pause a moment today. Those lies we’re hearing are framed by someone who isn’t very creative at all. In fact, he always has to imitate the Master. He’s been doing it since the beginning of his time. He’s a counterfeit and he’d like nothing more than us not to show him up. Regardless of what life might look like presently, we all belong in God’s box and He can and will work wonderful miracles from our messes.
He has a great success rate! Let’s relax, have a little more faith, and let Him bring purpose, peace, hope and joy to our days once again. Grab a crayon and get ready to walk out of where you are, head held high, and in Jesus name. What color is your favorite? We may look different but we’re always God’s original - a masterpiece. A miracle.
Blessings upon you today ~