A Powerful Lesson Learned from a Box of Crayons
With everyone posting back to school pictures, I want to present you with what I think is the best gift imaginable. I give you the Big Box of Crayons. You’re welcome.
A Childhood Dream
I can remember as a child LONGING for the big box of crayons, but it was never in my parents’ budget. Every year my mom faithfully bought me a new box of 24 crayons and I would skip off to school eager to break in my new colors. (New crayons are the BEST!) I was excited and content… until I saw someone else with a bigger box.
When I saw someone else’s box of 48 or 64 crayons, I became disappointed with what I had. I colored and did my work with my little box, all the while glancing enviously at what I perceived to be my classmate’s boundless choices and wishing for a color I didn’t have. As I look back, I realize I told myself lies like: I’m not good enough for a big box; I wouldn’t know what to do with all those colors; my pictures would still be average.
A Lesson from my Childhood Longing
As I thought about my longing for the coveted big box of Crayons, I noticed a pattern in myself. Life is good, I’m happy and content, then I get distracted. The distraction is followed by feeling disappointed and disappointment leads to becoming dis-enchanted.
I think our spiritual lives can follow the pattern of distraction to disappointment to dis-enchanted.
Nancy Brewer
Seeing the Pattern in Our Spiritual Life
We enjoy our life with Christ and see ourselves as blessed. God teaches us fresh lessons and we become excited to influence our corner of the world. Then life happens. We become distracted by what someone else has, or a circumstance we didn’t choose, or an opportunity we had hoped for disappears.
If we choose to settle in and fixate on that distraction, it morphs into disappointment in our spiritual walk. God’s presence doesn’t feel as energizing because we perceive God left us with the “little box.” Perhaps the idea “God purposefully gave us this circumstance we don’t like” flashes like a neon sign in our brains. Or we continually compare ourselves to others and excessively evaluate what God gives them versus what we think God has not given us. Satan whispers incriminations like: you’re not good enough; God loves others more than you; you’re just average.
Once disappointment takes up residence in our thoughts and emotions it is hard to break free and soon, we are dis-enchanted. Church is now boring and time-consuming. We buy into the deception that God asks too much of us. The Bible, sometimes hard to understand before, is now not worth the struggle. Besides, what we do understand feels too difficult to do. Emotionally, we give up on God, and our faith fights a battle without any backup or resources.
Overcoming the Distraction, Disappointment, Dis-enchanted Trap
We need to go back to the thrill of the new box of crayons; we need to go back to the beginning and be captured by Jesus all over again. We must remember all we already have in Christ.
- Forgiveness (1 John 1:9)
- Acceptance (John 1:12)
- Peace (John 14:27)
- Eternity (Romans 6:23)
- Hope (Jeremiah 29:11)
- Good gifts (Psalm 37:4; Romans 8:28)
- Grace (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Corinthians 9:7-8)
- New mercies every morning (Lamentations 2:22-23)
- Friendship with God (John 15:12-17)
- Strength (Philippians 4:13; Isaiah 41:10)
- Wisdom (2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Corinthians 2:10)
- Unfailing love (John 3:16-17; Galatians 2:20).
I need to ask
Are you being distracted?
Are you feeling disappointed? Are you blaming God?
Are you disenchanted?
Or are you captivated by who Jesus is and all He gives to you?
Pull out an old box of crayons. Spend some time coloring and remembering. Allow the truth of all the wonders found in Christ to anchor themselves fresh in your soul.
I’m praying for you.
