I love this time of year. As a kid, I loved shopping for new school clothes, backpacks, and new school supplies. I would check the mail every day starting in the middle of July, hoping to find a letter with the name of my new teacher. There’s just something about things that are new that get us excited, that give us a renewed hope.
Then as a teacher, I would go from store to store finding the best deals on map pencils, dry erase markers, pens, and lots of spirals and folders. I would spend hours getting my classroom ready, labeling everything for this new group of students. My oldest shares this same excitement. We’ve spent a lot of time these last few weeks talking about middle school and the new opportunities she has this year.
But in a few months, school won’t be new, and those supplies definitely won’t be looking new. Some of the crayons are going to be broken. The markers will be running out of ink. And the folders are going to be bent and scuffed up. When I think about what happens middle of the year, I look at my own life and see that same pattern. I get excited about the start of something new, but after a little bit of time, I begin to notice cracks, smudges, and the familiar feeling of running on empty.
This happens in our Christian walk as well. We get a renewed purpose, feel that fire burning brightly, and are ready to change the world for the sake of Christ. But we meet some resistance and get a few scuff marks on us. We lose heart and feel defeated when we can’t seem to juggle all that life is throwing at us. We become broken vessels and begin to shrink to the sidelines wondering how that fire became nothing more than some smoldering embers.
I think back to my time as a teacher with my used school supplies looking a little rough, and you know what I realize? That every half-used crayon and empty dry erase marker was used to teach someone something. That every mangled folder is evidence that it has been used for its purpose. And so it is with our Christian walk. Yes, the beginning is fun and exciting but so is the middle. The bumps and scrapes, the broken pieces, the worn and frazzled emotions are evidence that we have been fulfilling our purpose. It doesn’t mean we are damaged, it means we have been being used. It means we have stories to share. Those cracks show that we have experience.
So be proud of your broken vessel. It allows more light to shine. Remember this a few months from now when things have lost their shine: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:7-9
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