Broken Crayons Still ColorSample

Growing up, I was really good at hiding my brokenness. I thought that if people knew who I really was on the inside, they would reject me.

As a result, I felt a deep ache and an emptiness that nothing seemed to fill. No matter what I did, the ache would not go away. 

Eventually, God gave me an illustration of my life – I was a broken cup. 

Several tragedies in my life that represented cracks in my cup and the brokenness that came into my life. However, instead of bringing my broken cup, my pain and brokenness, to God for healing, I was trying to deal with it myself.

And so the illustration is this: I was trying to fill my broken cup with water from several sources to fill the emptiness I felt inside. But no matter what I did, it did not satisfy because my “cup” was equipped to hold only one kind of water, the living water of Jesus. The kind of water I tried to fill it with would simply drain out over time. So although I would feel temporary satisfaction, it never lasted.

I sensed God saying to me, “Shelley, you have committed two sins: you have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and no matter what you do, you will never be satisfied apart from me. I want you to come to my spring of living water that never runs dry.” (paraphrase from Jeremiah 2:13)

I am sure some of you have felt the same way.

I walked through a season in my life when God asked me to surrender my brokenness, my broken cup, to Him for healing. It was a painful season as I began to face some deep wounds from my past. However, over time, as I surrendered my broken cup to God, He put all my broken pieces inside His cup, His cup that no longer had any cracks and was able to hold water. As I chose to come to Him each day for His living water, my emptiness was replaced with true satisfaction in Christ.

If you put a mug underneath a waterfall, what will happen?

The cup will fill with water and then eventually overflow.

And that is what began to happen in my heart. As I was filled with Christ each day, I was not only satisfied in Christ but His Spirit in me began to overflow.

Instead of being needy and going to other people to feel good about myself, I actually had something to give to others. I had love to give. I had joy to give. I had encouragement to share.

Psalm 23:5 says, “My cup overflows.”

I love how the Amplified Version, Classic Edition (AMPC) says it: “My [brimming] cup runs over.” This is a wonderful picture of having more than enough.

My prayer is that this plan gave you hope and started you on your own path to freedom and healing.

If you’ve enjoyed this reading plan, I encourage you to sign up for these extras I created for you:

• Download 7 of my hand-drawn coloring pages as a PDF for FREE.


• Download the printable scripture cards that correspond with this plan.

You can download them for free here: www.brokencrayonsbook.com 

And consider going through my 7-week book study with a friend titled, “Broken Crayons Still Color.”  You can find it on Amazon or other online retailers.

May God truly turn your mess into a masterpiece!