Broken Crayons Still Color

 

As I was working with one of my kindergarten students this past week, one of her assignments was to color all the pictures that start with the letter H, cut them out, then paste them onto the picture of a house; thus, the focus skill being the sound of the letter H. I noticed she was putting a lot of pressure on the crayon as she colored. As she was almost finished coloring her last picture before the next task of cutting began, her crayon broke in half. And before you know it, the tears started to flow. This little person’s world, at that moment, was shattered due to a broken crayon. 

 

As I began to console her and this traumatic event in this young girl’s academic life for the day, I picked up part of the broken crayon and showed her that the crayon still works…it still colors the same and can do the same job as before. The only difference was it was a smaller piece, needed to be held a little differently, but it could still finish the job that was first started with the complete crayon intact. It was still useful in a big way. 

 

I couldn’t help but at this moment remember that we all have been broken in some way. You might be thinking you’re not broken or have never been broken, but I’d like to challenge your view. You see, we all came into this world with a broken, sinful nature even as babies. Yes, our precious little ones are born with sin natures. It began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Lured away by a serpent, deceived into believing something that wasn’t true and not obeying God, Eve decided to partake in the forbidden fruit. Adam followed in her disobedience. From this, our sin natures were born and handed down for generations to come. 

 

God did not intend for us to be broken or sinful, but because two people didn’t trust and believe, we now are faced daily with brokenness, choices, and sinful natures. So, yes, we have all been broken at some point; some maybe harder than others. Over the years of our life span, we encounter hardships and trials, sorrows and losses. But all these broken experiences reveal our weakness and our need for the Lord. He knows our futures and paths He has for us. In fact, He allows everyone of our broken experiences. I truly believe that without brokenness in our life, we would never rely on His strength and grace to see us through. He wants us to fully rely on Him for everything…not just on Sundays, or during trials, or when its our last resort. Our brokenness turns into something beautiful. He refines us and makes us new again. He takes the old, shattered, broken pieces of our life and turns them into new things, new creations, that can be used even better for His glory. 

 

Just like that broken crayon that set my five-year-old student into a crying frenzy, we are still useful. Even if our world is shattered for a moment in time, God still loves us and still uses us. In our brokenness is where His strength shines. Let your healing show others that God still redeems. He knows our needs, our hurts, our wants, and hears our prayers. We just need to talk to Him and listen to what He has for us every day. Rely on His strength and color your world for others to see how great God is. 

 

Broken? God can still use you. 

Hurt? God is there for you.

Lonely? God is your Father and never leaves you. 

Weary? God is our rest. 

Give your cares over to the Lord and He will give you the rest you need. 

We are not perfect, but God is. He is the Healer of the broken pieces.

 “We are all a little broken, but the last time I checked, broken crayons still color the same.” 

-Trent Shelton

 

Stacy