Finding Light in Our Fractured Stories
There's something profound about stained glass windows. Stand before them in the dim light of morning, and they appear dark, almost lifeless—just pieces of colored glass held together by lead. But when sunlight streams through them, everything changes. Suddenly, the fragments come alive with color and meaning, telling stories that have inspired generations.
Our lives are remarkably similar to those windows.
The Garden Where Everything Shattered
The story of humanity begins in a garden—a place of perfect fellowship, unblemished trust, and complete transparency. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. They didn't wonder where He was or whether He would provide. There was no shame, no fear, no separation between Creator and creation. Just pure, unadulterated love.
But true love always contains a choice.
The serpent's temptation wasn't really about forbidden fruit. It was about something far more insidious: the suggestion that God was withholding something good. That true freedom and wisdom could be found apart from Him. That life works better when we're in charge.
And in that moment of choice, everything fractured.
The First Hiding Place
What happened next reveals something crucial about the nature of sin and brokenness. The immediate consequence wasn't divine punishment—it was hiding. Adam and Eve, who had walked openly with God, suddenly found themselves sewing fig leaves together and ducking behind trees.
The first fracture in humanity wasn't rebellion of the hands; it was distrust in the heart.
We don't sew fig leaves together anymore, but we still hide. We hide behind busy schedules and impressive accomplishments. We hide behind humor, strong opinions, or carefully curated social media profiles. We pretend everything is fine when inside we feel fractured, carrying pieces we're afraid to show anyone.
The Question That Changes Everything
But here's where the story takes an unexpected turn. When God came walking in the garden, He didn't thunder with judgment. He didn't demand an accounting of their actions. Instead, He asked a simple question:
"Where are you?"
This wasn't a question of location—God knew exactly where they were. This was a question of relationship. Why are you hiding? Why are you running from me? Whatever you've done, I'm still here. Come back to me.
When humanity shattered fellowship with God, God came looking anyway.
This is one of the first and greatest revelations of God's character in all of Scripture. Humanity runs from God, but God moves toward humanity. He never abandons the fractured pieces.
The Real Problem Beneath the Surface
Here's something we often miss: sin rarely starts with behavior. It starts much earlier, with suspicion of God. With distrust. With a wrong understanding of His character. With the assumption that obedience is restriction rather than protection.
Eve's problem didn't begin when she took the fruit. It began when she started to doubt God's goodness, when she began to believe that life existed outside His care, that He was holding something back.
We face the same temptation today. We think: "If I could just work a little harder, manage things a little better, solve one more problem, then everything will be okay." We trust ourselves instead of trusting God. We want life on our own terms.
And that's when the fractures begin.
The Artist Who Works With Broken Glass
But here's the beautiful truth woven throughout Scripture: God is still the artist.
Stained glass begins as various pieces—some beautiful, some seemingly worthless. But the artist takes those pieces and forms beauty. In life, we see fragments. God sees the finished window.
The longer we follow Jesus, the more we realize that everyone carries broken pieces. Some are beautiful, some are painful, some we never want to talk about. But God isn't frightened by any of our pieces. He doesn't run away. His grace shines through the fragments, and beauty begins to emerge.
Light Changes Everything
Before light shines through a stained glass window, the glass is dark and unimpressive. You can't see the image it's meant to display. The same is true spiritually.
Without Christ, sin distorts our vision. Shame dominates our understanding. Our true identity remains hidden. Fear makes us hide. Darkness seems to win.
But with Christ, those shattered pieces become part of our testimony—the beautiful story God is telling through our lives. The fractures don't disappear, but they become part of something greater. Light transforms everything.
The Invitation to Stop Hiding
Maybe you're carrying fractured pieces right now. Perhaps the fracture isn't some huge moral failure—maybe it's disappointment, hurt that you couldn't share with anyone, regret over words you can't take back, or fear of what others might think.
The question we must ask ourselves is this: What am I hiding behind? What's my fig leaf? Where have I stopped trusting God?
The invitation is to stop hiding from the One who can actually heal us. To come into the light. To answer God's question—"Where are you?"—with honesty rather than evasion.
A Summer Creed
The prophet Micah offers us these powerful words that can become our declaration:
"For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light."
This is the promise for every fractured life. We will fall—that's part of the human story since the garden. But falling isn't the end. Rising is part of the story too. And even when we sit in darkness, surrounded by our broken pieces, the Lord becomes our light.
The Ongoing Story
The Bible's primary story is God seeking relationship with us through Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation, it's the story of God asking, "Where are you?" and seeking reconciliation, not annihilation.
Every person has fractures. But we also have the possibility of stained glass stories—lives where broken pieces become beautiful when God's light shines through them.
We have an Artist who never stops working with broken glass. We have a Light that never stops shining through fractured people.
And that makes all the difference.
Our lives are remarkably similar to those windows.
The Garden Where Everything Shattered
The story of humanity begins in a garden—a place of perfect fellowship, unblemished trust, and complete transparency. Adam and Eve walked with God in the cool of the day. They didn't wonder where He was or whether He would provide. There was no shame, no fear, no separation between Creator and creation. Just pure, unadulterated love.
But true love always contains a choice.
The serpent's temptation wasn't really about forbidden fruit. It was about something far more insidious: the suggestion that God was withholding something good. That true freedom and wisdom could be found apart from Him. That life works better when we're in charge.
And in that moment of choice, everything fractured.
The First Hiding Place
What happened next reveals something crucial about the nature of sin and brokenness. The immediate consequence wasn't divine punishment—it was hiding. Adam and Eve, who had walked openly with God, suddenly found themselves sewing fig leaves together and ducking behind trees.
The first fracture in humanity wasn't rebellion of the hands; it was distrust in the heart.
We don't sew fig leaves together anymore, but we still hide. We hide behind busy schedules and impressive accomplishments. We hide behind humor, strong opinions, or carefully curated social media profiles. We pretend everything is fine when inside we feel fractured, carrying pieces we're afraid to show anyone.
The Question That Changes Everything
But here's where the story takes an unexpected turn. When God came walking in the garden, He didn't thunder with judgment. He didn't demand an accounting of their actions. Instead, He asked a simple question:
"Where are you?"
This wasn't a question of location—God knew exactly where they were. This was a question of relationship. Why are you hiding? Why are you running from me? Whatever you've done, I'm still here. Come back to me.
When humanity shattered fellowship with God, God came looking anyway.
This is one of the first and greatest revelations of God's character in all of Scripture. Humanity runs from God, but God moves toward humanity. He never abandons the fractured pieces.
The Real Problem Beneath the Surface
Here's something we often miss: sin rarely starts with behavior. It starts much earlier, with suspicion of God. With distrust. With a wrong understanding of His character. With the assumption that obedience is restriction rather than protection.
Eve's problem didn't begin when she took the fruit. It began when she started to doubt God's goodness, when she began to believe that life existed outside His care, that He was holding something back.
We face the same temptation today. We think: "If I could just work a little harder, manage things a little better, solve one more problem, then everything will be okay." We trust ourselves instead of trusting God. We want life on our own terms.
And that's when the fractures begin.
The Artist Who Works With Broken Glass
But here's the beautiful truth woven throughout Scripture: God is still the artist.
Stained glass begins as various pieces—some beautiful, some seemingly worthless. But the artist takes those pieces and forms beauty. In life, we see fragments. God sees the finished window.
The longer we follow Jesus, the more we realize that everyone carries broken pieces. Some are beautiful, some are painful, some we never want to talk about. But God isn't frightened by any of our pieces. He doesn't run away. His grace shines through the fragments, and beauty begins to emerge.
Light Changes Everything
Before light shines through a stained glass window, the glass is dark and unimpressive. You can't see the image it's meant to display. The same is true spiritually.
Without Christ, sin distorts our vision. Shame dominates our understanding. Our true identity remains hidden. Fear makes us hide. Darkness seems to win.
But with Christ, those shattered pieces become part of our testimony—the beautiful story God is telling through our lives. The fractures don't disappear, but they become part of something greater. Light transforms everything.
The Invitation to Stop Hiding
Maybe you're carrying fractured pieces right now. Perhaps the fracture isn't some huge moral failure—maybe it's disappointment, hurt that you couldn't share with anyone, regret over words you can't take back, or fear of what others might think.
The question we must ask ourselves is this: What am I hiding behind? What's my fig leaf? Where have I stopped trusting God?
The invitation is to stop hiding from the One who can actually heal us. To come into the light. To answer God's question—"Where are you?"—with honesty rather than evasion.
A Summer Creed
The prophet Micah offers us these powerful words that can become our declaration:
"For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light."
This is the promise for every fractured life. We will fall—that's part of the human story since the garden. But falling isn't the end. Rising is part of the story too. And even when we sit in darkness, surrounded by our broken pieces, the Lord becomes our light.
The Ongoing Story
The Bible's primary story is God seeking relationship with us through Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation, it's the story of God asking, "Where are you?" and seeking reconciliation, not annihilation.
Every person has fractures. But we also have the possibility of stained glass stories—lives where broken pieces become beautiful when God's light shines through them.
We have an Artist who never stops working with broken glass. We have a Light that never stops shining through fractured people.
And that makes all the difference.