Have you ever dropped a glass in the sink or on the floor and it didn't break? Or maybe you were holding a glass and it *just* bumped against something and it shattered right in your hand? I have been thinking lately about how something like glass can be both strong enough to withstand weather and heat but fragile enough to break if you just tap it. It's because every piece of glass has a weak spot. The weakest areas are usually around the edges. Often weak spots are created by dirt or chemical changes or anomalies created during the glass making process. I remember seeing a demonstration at the Corning Museum of Glass where the exhibit encourages you to bang metal against glass to see if it would break. Of course the metal was hitting where the glass was the strongest so it wouldn't break. Like glass, most of us are pretty strong. We are made of tough stuff and our relationship with Christ tends to illuminate that because we believe that our strength comes from Him. In Him we are strong. He is our source of strength, and this allows us to deal with all that life throws at us on a day to day basis. But like glass we also have weak spots. Small areas of imperfection, that if hit just right, can break us. These areas are where we sit in self-condemnation, where we let the enemy remind of us our past, where we let other people define us, or areas of hurt and pain that never healed. It is these places that we need ask God to work on, to encircle us, heal us and protect us from outside influence. “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ” 2 Corinthians 12:9. "I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do to me?" Psalm 118:5-6 "Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." Romans 8:26 Lord, show us our weak places so that we will know the areas in which we are vulnerable. Expose the places where we are hurt and broken and begin the process of healing us. Father, open our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our heart to receive the Holy Spirit in our journey of healing. Send your angels and lift a hedge of protection around our weaknesses that make us susceptible to attack, whether from ourselves, from the enemy or from people. We ask in your Holy name. Amen. In love, Mona