“Your future looks bright in second grade”. That was the message attached to the glow stick necklace my son received from his teacher on the first day of school.
We were standing in the closet with the lights out waiting for the stick to show off its glow but nothing was happening.
“Just wait Mommy. You just have to wait and it will light up”, my brand new second grader said.
So we waited; Him more patiently than myself.
After about 30 seconds I broke the silence and said, “I think we might need to break it”. I explained that snapping it in the middle is what makes it glow. He took my advice and a huge smile spread across his face.
“There!”, he exclaimed.
Only, I knew that wasn’t all. Yes, the stick was glowing a bit right in the middle, but I knew the secret. I knew what would make the whole thing light up. “Now shake it!”, I told him. “Shake it really hard!”. As he did he giggled with delight. What started as a dim glow now gave off a neon luminescent bright enough to see each other smiling in the dark closet.
Break it. Then shake it. Broken and shaken.
I stood there in the dark, staring at a blue glow stick thinking about all the times I’ve felt broken and shaken in my life. I wonder if the circumstances that caused my brokenness and the moments that shook me to the core passed through my Heavenly Father’s hands because He knew the secret. He knew that if I was broken, I would start to glow and if He allowed me to be shaken a bit by the storms of life, I’d rise to shine even brighter.
It’s not easy to understand but how could the ways of the One who placed the stars in the sky be fathomed by human comprehension? My son was pleased with the gift from his teacher before it glowed. It was good and it was nice. But after he realized it’s full potential, he delighted in it.
What if God loves us too much to leave us good and nice? What if our full potential, the qualities that bring true delight in our lives and glory to Him, can only be revealed once broken and shaken?
Let me assure you of this; God isn’t messy or careless in this breaking and shaking. He is careful, strategic and gentle. He knows exactly what we need and has our best in mind.
Broken and shaken. He loves us too much to leave us there but when His work is complete we shine as bright as the stars in the sky.
#atthecross
Terri Sestina, At the Cross