Broken But Bright
Romans 8:18 — For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
You know, sometimes we have got to get broken in order to grow.
I have got this great story. Oh, I love it, and It goes like this.
“The other night, I was in the dollar store, and there was a mom there with her kids. One was a big kid, and the other one was a toddler. The bigger one had a pack of glow sticks, and the toddler 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. The toddler started screaming again. Just as the mom was about to bust, the older child bent the glow stick and handed it back to the toddler.
As we walked outside at the same time, the toddler noticed that the stick was now glowing, and his brother said, ‘I had to break it so that you could get the full effect of it.’
Wow.
When I saw that happening, I could hear God say 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 precious child was happy just swinging that unbroken glow stick around in the air because he didn’t understand what it was created to do, which was glow.
There are some people who will be content just being unbroken, but some of us know that God has chosen us. We have to be broken. We have to get sick, we have to lose that job. We have to bury our spouse, our parents, or our best friends.
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.
Just like it says in Romans 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
What if the places that broke you were never meant to end your story? What if they were preparing you to shine in ways you could not imagine until now?
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
- Can you think of a season in your life that felt like breaking—but later revealed growth, purpose, or deeper faith?
- Where might God be inviting you to trust Him in the middle of suffering you don’t yet understand?
- Are there places in your story you still see only as pain, rather than places God may be preparing to bring glory?
- How does Romans 8:18 change the way you view hardship—not as the end of the story, but as part of a bigger one God is still writing?
