618 When the Egg Breaks

My first encounter with God was in the Fall of 1990. I was a 15 year old freshman in high school and my best friend Sarah had invited me to her church for a lock-in. If I’m being honest, I’ll tell you I went for the boys. But God met me there. Or more accurately, I met God there. There was a man in his late 20’s who spoke to us that night. I’m sure he said many wonderful things, but I only remember one thing. He told a story of being in college and having a professor who didn’t believe in God. He was singled out in the class and challenged. He was the only believer in the room, or at least the only believer bold enough to stand up to the professor. The professor held a raw egg in his hand and said, “son, is your God strong enough to keep this egg from breaking if I drop it on the floor?” The student said “yes, my God can keep the egg from breaking.” So the professor dropped the egg. The egg didn’t even crack. For the first time in my life, I felt I need to know this God. The God who could keep an egg from breaking. The next day, my friend Sarah and I were picked up from the Church lock-in by my parents and all we were concerned about was if my mom had eggs in the refrigerator. We went through an entire dozen of eggs that day, each one meeting the fate of a hard tile floor. We would say, “we believe, we believe, we believe” then it would shatter and we would say, “darn it, I knew it would break.” What a mess we made. I never could drop an egg without it breaking, but I’ve never tried again. Do you know why, because a few months after that first introduction to God, I met his son Jesus. I asked him to come into my heart and change me and save me. And since that day, life has never been the same. I’ve had plenty of quote-unquote “eggs” break since then. Plans blow up in my face. Major let downs and setbacks. Hardships I never imagined came our way. Real life messes I found myself in the middle of. Yet, the one thing remained. My God, the same God who didn’t let that speaker’s egg break, was guiding my life. He could be trusted. Psalm 37: 23-24 says “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Every step, God has been directing you. Now the truth is, we don’t always follow his direction. Lord knows sometimes we are defiant with a spirit of rebellion and we run off in the wrong direction, missing out on God’s plan. However our God is so big and so gracious, ever meeting us right where we are, offering guidance back to his best plan for our lives. He never gives up on us, and he never gives up on our children, and that brings me tremendous hope. No matter how far we may stray, no matter how far down the wrong path we may roam, no matter how jacked up our choices may be and how wrong we may be living, HE CAN FIX THIS! What’s your mess? Where are your broken eggs? He will not only fix it, he will redeem it. He will use it all for good. And all this time, in my messes and mistakes, what I didn’t realize is God has been delighting in every detail of my life. Did you know God has been not only watching over your every detail, but he has been taking delight in the details of your life? What you see as a mess, God sees as an opportunity to make himself known. All the times you have stumbled, God has picked you up and held you in his hand. Nothing has been wasted here. Nothing. He’s using it all. Think back over the last 10, 20 years of your life. Can you see how God has guided you? Can you see how He has used every broken egg to sustain you? Can you see scrambled eggs? I thought I needed to know the God who wouldn’t let the egg break, but who I needed even more was the God who could work through my broken eggs. We want the unbroken egg.