You’re Not Falling Apart, You Might Be Breaking Open

Photo by Holly Keable on Unsplash; Edited in Canva

Last month, our men’s ministry tried something new. Instead of a normal meeting, we had a MEATing.

We all brought some sort of meat: steak, hot dogs, venison, barbecue, and one guy even brought some turkey burgers! He is the healthy one.

We cooked out over a campfire (or a grill), talked, and played some games: cornhole and horseshoes. It was a great time...until it got dark.

We still played anyway. At one point someone joked that we needed glow-in-the-dark horsehoes or at least a glowing stake.

That stuck with me.

A couple of weeks later, I came across a note in one of my journals from a mission trip. A pastor had used a glowstick as an illustration. You know how they work: before they shine, they have to be broken.

You can bend them, snap them, twist them, but one thing is always true: the light doesn’t come out until something on the inside breaks.

I couldn’t help but make the connection.

In our lives, we tend to resist or question the hard moments. We ask, “Why would God allow this?” We try to minimize the pain or rush past it.

But what if those moments are doing something in us?

Jesus came for the broken, people who know they need help, who recognize their sin, who are humble enough to turn to Him.

Think about Paul (then Saul). When he set out, he had purpose, authority, and direction. He was confident, driven, and in control.

Then he encountered Jesus.

Acts 9:5-9 says,

““Who are you Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand to Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.”

Everything changed, but not in the way we might expect. He was stopped, blinded, and completely dependent on others. The man who had been leading now had to be led. For three days, he couldn’t see, eat, or drink.

That kind of breaking is hard to ignore.

But that same brokenness became the turning point for one of the most influential followers of Christ in history.

What if the hard seasons we face are not pointless, but purposeful? What if, like a glowstick, God allows us to be “broken” so that His light can shine through us more clearly?

God doesn’t waste pain. He uses it. He reshapes us, humbles, and builds something new in us.

So here’s the question:

Where might God be trying to work through the hard things in your life right now?

Instead of resisting it, bring it to Him. Let Him meet you in it. Let Him shape you through it.

Because sometimes, the light shines brightest...after the breaking.

Anyway, I was just thinking...