Came across this sign some
time ago and immediately it jumped out at me, so I saved it. As I began to pray
this particular morning during my devotional time with the Lord, God brought
this back to my remembrance. Had been asking Him for a Word for the year
that will anchor me. We need a Word from the Lord to hold on to. A
Word that will give us hope and strengthen us for the trials and even the
triumphs to come. That’s the purpose of a New Year theme in church that
Pastors often share during the Watch Night services or the first message of the
New Year. The Word that the Pastor delivers at this time is usually an
anchor to the congregation, giving them something to stand on, a Word to
remember, to hold on to, when things start to go a little awry (and they
will).
Last year, the Word God
had for us as a church was “Come Out Fightin'” (Though a year has passed, I
encourage you to take a listen, the Word is always appropriate in our walk with
Christ). And yes, a strange word, but it seems that was all we had to do
all year as the enemy found different ways to oppose us. Each battle and
each struggle that I personally faced last year, that Word popped up in my
spirit, (and of others) as things came to challenge my faith. 'We wrestle
not against flesh and blood, but of principalities...' It brought me back to
where I should be, standing on the Word of God and contending for my
faith. Fight the good fight of faith, that's what the Word says.
And while things happened, I yet remained victorious at the end of the
year. What was meant to destroy me, what was meant to kill me, did
not. It is 2018 and I am still here. I am still alive. I am
reminded of the words of my dear son Joseph who shared so poetically in one of
his spoken word performances, (oh, how I miss them) … “See, they say, the human
heart beats 4,000 times per hour. Each beat, each pulse, each rhythm,
each drop, is a token, is a trophy, is a reward, engraved with these words, you
are still alive.” I am still alive. Albeit, broken.
Anyway, as I had been
asking God for a Word, He spoke to me New Year’s Day and said, “Restoration and
Renewal.” And while I thought that this would be my anchor for the year,
and it some ways it yet is, God spoke again. I’ve learned that God often
speaks in sentences, a thought today, a Word tomorrow, that if we would only
string it together, we would have our ‘Morse code’ from God, a battle plan for
our victory. So, this particular morning, God continued to speak and
spoke to me through this image... about brokenness.
You see when my Joseph was
killed, something broke in me. My heart. Joseph is my only
son. He was my last born. He was just 22. Just getting
started. And we won’t ever be able to see him continue. In his
career, in his performances. In his life. He won't ever marry or
have his own family. Life was stripped from him. And life was
stripped from me. I birthed three children and now that was broken, for
now I only had two. And when he died, so did my passion, my ability to
focus, my desire to live as I had been. My faith was shaken.
Betrayal came, and I lost friends and people I thought loved me. And so
much more, that is not for me to share at this moment. But I was
broken. And God spoke to me and said, “Broken crayons still color.”
And regarding the restoration and renewal, in order to be renewed, you must
first be broken. But understand, in that brokenness, God yet desires to
work in you and through you. He yet desires to use you. He yet desires to
use me.
Broken crayons still
color. This is what He said. Think about a crayon. They are
used to bring a black and white drawing to life. To add color to a
sketching. When we were young, we had all kinds of coloring books.
The color by number. The magic coloring books where things would appear
once you colored them. Theme coloring books, animals, toys, so
many. And we had all sorts of boxes of crayons; the 8, 16, 24, and the
double-sized box of 64 with the sharpener. And those of us who came later
even had the erasable crayons. And we loved to color with a brand-new box
of crayons. We couldn’t wait to use those. It was just something
about them. They had a point so that we could make our coloring more
accurate, staying in the lines. But there was always somebody who colored
outside of the lines (and that’s a whole other message, but sometimes we need
to color outside of the lines and not do what everybody else is doing), but
anyway, for the most part we needed to stay in the lines in order to have a
pretty and perfect view, and color of whatever the subject was. (Order is
needed as well, but that too is another message).
As a child, sometimes I
would color and color with the same crayon, usually the black one, that seemed
to be used the most. (Or the blue and green, as there was always a sky or
grass in the drawing that needed to be colored). But those
particular crayons would be used so much, they often broke. And that was
it. Once those crayons were broken, it was like the whole pack did not
work. And most times it would stop me from coloring at all, because I
could not use that one color. I was like that as a kid (still like that
in some ways). Everything had to work. Everything had to
match. My hair had to be neat or I would cry. "The crayon is
broken!" I would yell to whoever was around. And I would
stop coloring or declare the whole box of crayons, worthless. (Thank God that
when something breaks within us, He doesn’t toss us out, or stop using us,
declaring us worthless).
Anyway, when we really
wanted to color, especially if there was nothing else for us to do (there were
no video games, or Netflix, or cellphones), sometimes we would take that broken
crayon and peel off the paper, sharpen it and use it anyway. As broken as
it was. But what made it even better was since the crayon was broken, we
could share it and someone else could actually use that broken piece.
Broken crayons still
color. And they still can be used to make a difference. When we
find ourselves broken, just like we did with our broken crayons, God just peels
away that layer of paper, that thing that holds us back from being used, and He
sharpens us and puts us back to work. Back in the box with all the rest
of the crayons. Back in the midst of life with all of the rest of the
people. And the piece that was broken, broken off of us, He allows us to
share with someone else, so that they can color too. Our shared experiences
serve as a threshold for someone else to share their experiences.
That broken piece of us,
where our heart was broken because of betrayal or rejection or loneliness or
even death, God allows someone else to learn from and now they are able to
color with it. To use the experience, they gained and the wisdom they
learned from your broken piece and color with it. Make the world around
them, and the people they meet better.
God will use our
brokenness in spite of our brokenness. And each time we break, He will
sharpen us and make us new so that we can still color. So that we can
still make a difference. Just because we are broken, just because things
happen to us, death, sickness, a fall from grace even, does not mean God cannot
use that situation, or use us as we go through it.
And every time I am
reminded of just how broken I am, God reminds me “yep, but you're still coloring.”
So, with God’s help and by His grace, I’ll just take my broken self and
continue to color all the plans, God draws for me. Or puts in the Book.
Though broken, I shall not
die, but live to declare the glory of the Lord. For there SHALL be glory
after this.
Broken crayons still
color.
And I am still, a servant
of the Lord, coloring.
Sis. E
www.butgodisreal.com
www.intheshadowofgrief.com
#ripmyJoe
Joseph
Malik Fannell
January 14, 1993 – June 5,
2015
www.josephmfannellmemorialfund.org
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