Feeling Vulnerable With a Hole in the Middle
We have been having granite countertops put into our kitchen. It’s been a big ole mess for weeks. The guys brought over huge slabs of granite and trimmed each one to fit the specific place it needed to go. This one piece they held in place so it wouldn’t move and cut out a big hole in the middle. It sat on the patio for several days even after the rest of the granite had been put into place.
Our builder said he either needed more guys or a special piece of equipment to move it. You see, cutting this hole in the middle made the granite on either side of the hole weaker. In fact, if they moved it without enough support that big, heavy piece of granite could just split in two.
As I looked at that granite, I wondered how many people feel like this slab of granite. We pray for God to use us. We wait and wait for that moment to come when He will call us into His work. And just moments before it looks like we’re finally moving into the place we’re meant to be life holds us down and cuts a chunk right out of the middle of us.
That chunk could be so many things. Illness. Death of someone we love. Infertility. Divorce. Loss of a job. Addiction.
Sometimes we just sit right where life left us afraid to move because we’re just sure we’ll fall apart at any moment.
Today I took a picture of that piece of granite in my kitchen. The hole that left the big, sturdy stone so vulnerable was just the right size for this sink. What caused weakness was the one thing necessary for this granite to fulfill it’s intended purpose.
Why this piece of granite instead of another? I have no idea. It was the right size for the place it was needed. It matched all the other granite in the kitchen. It was the last piece of the right size in the stack. Any number of reasons.
Whatever the reason, being made weaker and cut open isn’t fun. But it’s sometimes in order for God to install a sink where he needs one He needs a place to put it. Sometimes He has to cut out something from us to make room for the purpose of us. Sometimes He needs us to be weaker in order to really use us.
I anticipate the many meals my family will cook in this kitchen. I look forward to my kids eating Saturday morning breakfast at the bar while they watch T. V. I’m excited to serve family and friends from our home. All those activities require the use of this beautiful sink and the granite surrounding it.
Just because it feels like a huge hole has been cut right through your life and you’re too scared to even move doesn’t mean God can’t use you anymore. In fact, maybe it allows Him to use you more.
