Busted!

M

ost people would never associate mining with North Carolina. In fact, when most people think of North Carolina, they imagine rolling hills, lush forests, vast tracts of pasture lands, sand dunes along the coast, and trees of every variety.  This is all true and very accurately describes my home state, but there are other things about the area that people just don’t consider.

Very close to my hometown, was a large mine which removed lithium ore from the ground.  North Carolina is one of the leading states for the production of this mineral.  The mine employed many people in our area and provided for an interesting field trip for the local school children. I will never forget seeing that large hole in the ground nor the size of the equipment needed for removing the huge boulders left after blasting occurred.

One of the by-products of the mine was gravel.  Large boulders were crushed into smaller rock which was sold to companies and individuals to be used for various reasons.  I went with my dad once to the mine to get a load of gravel.  The parking lot behind his business used to be gravel and after so much wear and tear on the lot, it was time to replenish the old gravel with new.

We took a large dump truck, drove to the mine, paid for a load of gravel, and waited for it to be loaded.  While we were there, I watched them make gravel.  It was a very interesting process.  Large boulders were placed into a heavy piece of machinery which proceeded to break the large chunk into millions of small fragments and shards.  The noise was deafening but when it was over, the large boulder had been rendered into very small pieces which could then be used for driveways, flowerbeds, drainage ditches, etc.  The large rock was useless; but once broken into pieces, it had many new and useful applications.

This is a wonderful lesson for us today.  Many times, in the Christian life, we feel as if God is breaking us into smaller pieces.  He digs deep, pulls out a large chunk of our hearts, and then places it in the grinder.  Just when we feel we have nothing left to give, God takes what we have and crushes it into smaller pieces.  Although we don’t understand why, his purpose is to make us more useful for him.

Jesus demonstrated this at the feeding of the five thousand.  A little boy brought him five loaves and two fish.  Among so many people, they were nothing.  They would hardly feed a little boy, much less a throng of five thousand people.  Yet, when Jesus took those items in his hands, he fed the multitude, until all of them had as much as they wanted.

Matthew 14:19 shows how Jesus accomplished this task, “And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.”  Jesus gave thanks for the fish and the bread and then he broke them.  That is the secret we need to see today.

In their original form, these loaves and fish could only feed one little boy.  They were meant for his lunch, to sustain him until he arrived home for dinner.  However, when Jesus began to break them, they took on much more ability.  Not only did they feed the little lad, they fed the entire group with twelve baskets full of pieces left over.

Today, you may feel as if you are being broken and crushed.  From your perspective, this brings confusion and frustration.  From God’s perspective, however, it makes perfect sense.  He is using you to touch the lives of countless others, others who are tired and hungry for spiritual food.  Who knows how many people your life will touch if you will yield yourself to the Master’s hand?  Won’t you let him break you today?