Broken Glass

Do you have tile floors? We put down tile this past summer in the kitchen and, while I am pleased with it for the most part, there is one thing I do not like about it. Broken glass! Our old kitchen carpet desperately needed to be removed, but I miss the fact that if I dropped something before, it didn't necessarily break. Now, no matter what falls, if it is glass, it's going to break. Unfortunately, I tend to be clumsy, so I've lost quite a few things to breakage since the tile was installed! You would think most of the breakage would come from one of the kids.....but no....it's me!

The other day I was cleaning the kitchen and moved a candle out of the way. The lid to the candle fell to the floor and broke. What was interesting to me about the lid, though, is the way it broke. Some things fall to the floor and shatter in what seems to be a "million" pieces, but this lid fell and broke in mostly big pieces. It was fairly easy to clean up the mess - this time.

As I was cleaning up the pieces, I thought about the differences in shattered glass. What makes some glass shatter more than others? I also thought about how our lives are like that glass. Something comes along in our lives and it may "shatter" us into many pieces, but then other things may come along and seem they would be just as hurtful to us, but we're not shattered to the same extent. What makes the difference? In glass, the thickness of it seems to make the biggest difference. So, is it the thickness of our skin that makes the difference in our lives?

I used to have a boss that thought it was fun to make me cry. I would cry very, very easily. He would tell me I was thin-skinned and he actually delighted in that fact! But, as I got older and matured, those types of things didn't bother me any more. I became more "thick-skinned" and learned to control my response towards others and towards certain situations.

Maybe having thick skin does help when our world is shattered, but I believe it has more to do with our faith. The "thickness" or "deepness" of our faith in God will help us when everything seems like it is falling apart. God will get us through those rough, broken times if we will put our faith - our total faith - in Him.

Take a moment to reflect on this comforting passage:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
James 1:2-4

Have a great Friday!