Glow Stick


Yesterday Facebook gave me a memory from 4 years ago.  In it, I had recorded the following story:

I was in Dollar Tree last night and there was a lady and two kids behind me in the long line.  One was a big kid, one was a toddler.  The bigger one had a pack of glow sticks and the baby was screaming for them.  So the Mom opened the pack and gave him one, which stopped his tears.  He walked around with it smiling, but then the bigger boy took it and the baby started screaming again.  

Just as the Mom was about to fuss at the older child, the bent the glow stick and handed it back to the baby.  The baby noticed the stick was now glowing and his brother said, "I had to break it so you could get the full effect!"

I almost started crying right then because I could hear God saying to me, "I had to break you to show you why I created you.  You had to go through it so you could fulfill your purpose."

That little baby had been perfectly content just swinging the "unbroken" glow stick around in the air because he didn't understand that it was created to GLOW!  And there are some people who will be content just "being."  But in order for some of us to get to the place where God can use us for His purpose, we have to be "broken" first.  

We have to get sick.  We have to lose a job.  We go through divorce.  We have to suffer with the disease of addiction.  We bury our spouse, our parents, our best friend or our child, because in those moments of desperation, God is breaking us, but when the breaking is done - then we will be able to see the reason for which we were created...so when you see us glowing, but know we have been broken, but healed by His grace and mercy.

  • "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." - Psalm 147:3
  • "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit" - Psalm 34:18
  • "You keep track of all my sorrows.  You have collected all my tears in your bottle.  You have recorded each one in your book" - Psalm 56:8


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