Letting Light Shine

I read something last night in the Captivating study that almost brought me to the point of tears. Here it is:

“You cannot be alive very long without being wounded. The sun rises, the stars follow their courses, the waves roll in crashing against the rocks, and we are wounded. Broken hearts cannot long be avoided in this beautiful yet dangerous world we live in. This is not Eden. Not even close. We are not living in the world our souls were made for. Something’s rotten in the state of Denmark and in our own backyards as we journey through the unknown terrain of the moments and months that make up our lives.

Take a deep look into the eyes of anyone and behind the smile or the fear, you will find pain. And most people are in more pain than they ever realize. Sorrow is not a stranger to any of us, though only a few have learned that it is not our enemy either. Because we are the ones loved by God, the King of kings, Jesus himself, who came to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free, we can take a look back. We can take his hand and remember. We must remember if we would not be held prisoner to the wounds.”

Last night was a heavy night. We talked a lot about being wounded and hurt by the world and the people in our lives. We talked about how we have been hurt and disappointed by those we love the most, and how those wounds have shaped us to be the women we are. I noticed a couple things through the night. First of all, everyone has wounds. Everyone. Second I realized that I am so blessed in my life to have a mother who loves me and cherishes me and tells me that every day. I called her last night and told her just how amazing it is.

One of the ministers here on staff was talking about hurts the other day and using the analogy of the broken pot. How we're all vessels that have been shattered. When you put the pieces back together again and stick a candle inside the pieced back together pot and light it, the only places light shine through are the places where it's been cracked. A perfect vessel won't let light through. Our cracks and broken pieces are the places where God can shine through the most, if we let Him. If all my wounds show God's love, mercy, and grace in a dark world, I wouldn't trade them for anything.