Stop Gluing the Glass.

Like a glass shattered on the floor, the pieces lay scattered, their edges sharp and jagged.

She searched for something to hold them together. She reached for every kind of glue, but nothing seemed to bind to the glass. Some glues would hold for a moment, only to let go, some couldn't bond because the surfaces weren't clean. Others failed because tiny pieces were missing, leaving gaps that needed to be filled. No matter what she tried, every repair was temporary.

She would bend down and pick up one piece, then another, carefully trying to fit them back together. When one wouldn't fit, she would gently set it aside and search for another. Slowly, she began to find the pieces that belonged. Bit by bit, the glass started to take shape again.

She looked at what she had rebuilt and thought, "It's finally coming together."

But just as hope began to rise, one of the jagged edges pierced her finger. Startled, she let go, and the glass crashed to the floor once more, shattering into even smaller pieces.

Again, she found herself on her hands and knees, searching through the fragments. Time and time again, as she began to rebuild, another jagged edge would cut her. Each wound caused the glass to slip from her hands, leaving it more shattered than before. The problem wasn't that she wasn't trying hard enough. She was trying to repair herself with things that were never designed to hold broken glass.

I spent years trying to glue the shattered glass of my own life back together. But God never asked me to become my own repairman. He asked me to become clay in his hands.

God desires for His light to shine through us. Jesus said that no one lights a lamp and hides it under a table. Instead, it is placed on a stand where its light can radiate throughout the room for everyone to see.

The enemy is a master at attempting to dim God's light from shining through us.

He whispers,

"You're too shy. You could never stand in front of people."

God says,

"My words will flow like living water, morsels of honey to those who hear them."

The enemy says,

"You've made too many poor choices. Your past disqualifies you."

God says,

"You are forgiven, you are redeemed, you are my daughter and I will use your story to help my children walk through the very season you survived."

The enemy points to our scars as proof that we are damaged.

God points to those same scars as proof of His healing.

Sometimes God reveals what we've worked so hard to hide. Not to shame us, but because He cannot heal what we refuse to surrender.

He reveals so He can heal.

When we stop trying to glue ourselves back together and instead place our lives into the hands of the Potter, He begins to shape us into who we were always created to be --- not who the world tried to make us become. And as He heals us, He doesn't hide our story He uses it.

Because God doesn't only want to repair our brokenness, he desires for His light to shine through us so brightly that others see Him.

So today, I want to encourage you: stop spending your life on your hands and knees trying to piece together shattered glass.

Instead, choose to be on your hands and knees in surrender to him.

Allow Him to reveal what has been hidden so He can heal what has been broken. Some things only God can heal. God's glue is better than any superglue.

Then.......

don't hide his light. Don't just place your lamp on top of the table.

Climb onto the table. Lift your hands toward heaven and let His light radiate through you.

Let it shine in your home, workplace, community, state.

And then…

Let it shine to the world.

Because you never know who is walking through darkness, searching for light

So let your light shine—not so people will see you, but so they will see Him.

 ~Natasha~