Broken Rock

Hubby and I were sitting on the porch as Little Bit rode her three wheeler around the concrete.  We were sitting there enjoying the great outdoors.  It had rained this morning, so the temperature had come down quite a bit.  There was a slight breeze and still clouds in the sky.  Nothing dramatic was happening besides the bird trying to catch his dinner from Little Bit's window.

Then I remembered something I had seen the last time Little Bit and I were on the porch.  In the new puddle that had formed was a rock that previously was on dry ground.  I am an avid rock collector.  My favorite rocks are the ones with the imperfections.  The ones that have multicolored striations and interesting designs due to erosion.  I remembered that this one had caught my eye before.  Now that hubby was home, he could go under the tree and grab it from the puddle for me.  It filled my hand.  And it was covered in mud.  I went inside and washed it off.

The outside of the rock, after washing, was a yellow hue and quite rigid.  It also had quite a few brown spots.  Maybe from sitting in the mud.  Maybe it is naturally yellow and brown.  But then the other side of the rock.  It wasn't the complete rock.  Only half.  The other side was the inside of the rock.  Instead of yellow/brown rigid surface, I was met with a crystal like mineral.  I have always seen geodes in the store but never have I found one.  I was amazed.

I took it back outside to show Hubby and Little Bit.  It was then that I realized I am this rock.  We are this rock.

We go through trials in our life.  Trials that seem like there is not an end in sight.  Instead, we will not make it through.  But then we do.  We come out alive on the other side.  But not only alive, but stronger.  And more beautiful.  How is this possible?  Because through this trial, we have surrendered our trial to God.  During this trial, part of us became broken.  It could have been a stubborn mind.  It could have been self-reliance.  It could have been a selfish heart.  It could have been our love of this world.  No matter what it was, it was broken and surrendered over to God.

Once we come out on the other side, we are stronger because we became weaker.  We allowed God to take something out of us that was not of Him.  We became more like Him.  Because of this, we became more beautiful.  His strength is beauty.

Sometimes we have to be broken to see the beauty in ourselves.  And that beauty is not from us.  It is from God.

I want to live so fully in God that He breaks me of my bad habits so I can have good habits.  I want Him to break me of my love of this world so I can love Him even more.  I want Him to break me of my selfish desires so I can give like Jesus gave.  I want Him to break me of my self-reliance so I depend fully on Him.  I want Him to break me of anger so I can be full of His love.  I want Him to break me of loneliness so I can enjoy His companionship.  I want Him to be break me of my desires so I can share His desires.  I want to be broken of my fears so I have the courage to live for Him.  I want to be broken of me so I can be like Jesus.

I want to be like this rock.  Broken and beautiful.  But this is possible only By God's Amazing Grace.