The boxes sat packed in my garage for three months. I avoided them. I told myself that it was because I was busy. That was partially true, I was quite busy. However the whole truth was that I was avoiding the boxes because of what they held.  

They were memorabilia boxes that held the remnants of my life with my ex-husband. It hurt; it would probably always hurt. There were family pictures, old love letters, letters that he had written and gifts that he had given me to me. Every item holding the memories of things that we had done and shared. 

I couldn’t face it, so I just left all the boxes packed up, till yesterday. I started to sort through some of the unpacked boxes. I found something kind of cool. It was funny how symbolic it was to what had become my life at the time. A few years before I had painted a tea set. The scripture on the teapot itself declares that “these three remain faith hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Along with the teakettle was 3 teacups. One for faith, one for hope, and one for love. In the move my love teacup was completely broken, repairable but it would take a lot of effort to get it close to its original state. I realized that even if I repaired it, the teacup would always look as if it had once been broken. Rhere might be a few missing chips and pieces and the cracks were scars that could not be hidden even with glue. The faith cup was mostly intact. Only the handle was broken. I fixed it right away. The only cup out of the three that was perfectly intact was hope. My hope had not been broken. Though my faith had been shaken and my love, my heart was broken I still had hope.

The tea set reflected my life and heart. Just like my cups God could repair my heart but it would take a great deal of time, and care. Honestly, I knew it would never be exactly the same because there would be scars. Visible signs that it had once been broken.  My faith had been tested but God proved faithful and so it was a clean break, one that could be quickly repaired. Just like my faith, shaken but still strong. The one thing I never lost was hope. I carried it and held onto it.  Doing that caused hope to carry me in return.  How could I have hope?  My hope remained because I knew that no matter my present suffering, nothing could compare with the glory to come. My hope was in the Lord, not in my circumstances. 

Here’s the reality, I found these boxes did not only hold pain, but they also contained joy. Joy because I knew that I had survived and thrived. Even in my our pain there can be found joy, peace, and yes, hope if you look for it. When all else fails, when hearts are shattered, and the pain in trials seeks to destroy us.  We can find opportunity for a stronger faith in God, and we can know God is constant and steady. 

What are your boxes that you’re avoiding? What are you afraid of going through because all you think that you will find is pain and sorrow. Look again, you will find opportunities for healing there also.  You will see how he has been faithful and will remain faithful to you.

Be brave, don’t just focus on the outward, go inside yourself, into your heart. Clean the clutter, unpack the boxes you have avoided, and find true peace. As long as the boxes are there, there is no true peace or resolution.

Scriptures: Psalms 16:8-11, Psalms 73:26, 1 Cor. 13:13