Fragile

"We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves." -2 Corinthians 4:7

We were in the car driving home, and my children were asking me the meaning of words. One that they were hung up on was the word fragile. They pronounced it many different ways and even giggled at the way it sounded, but it got me thinking. Have you ever felt fragile?

Zechariah 2:4-5 says, “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.”  

But I feel like walls are necessary for me, don't you?! Prosperity is nice, but what about protection?! Who will protect me if all the walls are gone?!

Being abused will cause you to start building up walls for protection. I have had many walls for many years. Being a person who has lived a life of abuse makes me feel that I have to be an advocate for others because I am an overcomer. I was at court with my father in law to be a witness if I was needed at one of his divorce hearings. I felt strong and confident in the court room. His ex-wife wanted to have a restraining order revoked that we had placed against her. Listening to her lawyer say there is no reason for the restraining order made me cringe. I knew she was abusive to my father in law and I knew he was neglected many times. She had even tried to attack me in front of a police officer. The judge kept the restraining order in place, and for that I am thankful. She came up behind me in the courtroom yelling at me. Why I became her worst enemy I will never know, but in that moment I felt fragile, vulnerable, and weak, and I wanted to go hide in a corner somewhere. It’s in those types of moments that it seems better to run away - and believe me, the temptation was there. But even through all that, God is asking me to stand strong. The stress has never won and I haven’t run - not yet anyway. I’m thankful how, through my life, God has preserved me in everything that I have faced. He is Wonderful! He is Faithful! and He is Mighty!

Instead of letting me sink into a paralysis of fear, He awakens a cry for help deep in my heart.  I don’t understand why I am bothered by some things; I know what the Word says, and I know God’s strength is in me. I am thankful He is present in my life and that with every cry I have cried out to Him, He always continues to answer me with a promise. God says “I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord.”  There is the promise. The “I will” of God. That is what I need! I need God to be a “wall of fire all around me.” He will! And He has been, even though I don’t always take notice, and I know that He will continue to be. But it gets better. He goes on to say, “And I will be the glory in her midst.” Let that carry you through life, even though you may feel fragile at times. Know that God is not fragile and enjoy the pleasure of His presence in your life. Fragile just means you are breakable, and that’s okay when you are in the hands of God.