“A divine romance exists between the broken and their Creator.” - Embracing Brokenness, by Alan Nelson
Before God can do great things through us, he must do great things in us. And oftentimes this work comes with a price.
Brokenness.
We see brokenness as failure, God sees greatness.
We see brokenness as the end, God sees it as a beginning; an opportunity for deeper intimacy with him.
The soul that is withered, weak and clinging to Jesus as the only source of life, hope, healing and redemption is the soul that has found true humility at the foot of the cross. And when I say “the foot of the cross” I’m not referring to those emotionally charged moments when we cry out to God for help. What I mean is that at the foot of the cross we begin to see ourselves exactly as we are. We see our mess. We see our sin. We see every mishap and wrongdoing. And we see Jesus.
Brokenness is that point in our journey when we allow Jesus to climb into the mess of our lives so that he can begin to pull out the debris that has kept us from full surrender and abundance. Brokenness is where the old dies away.
It’s not a pretty sight.
It hurts.
It gets plain ugly.
Nobody knows quite what to do with a broken person.
In fact, we try so hard to fix the broken people, don’t we? We can’t handle it. It’s too much for us. We think if we sing the right songs, pump them up with Scripture, and make sure they’re clothes are neat and pressed that somehow we can will them out of brokenness. But it is futile. Not one of us can shortcut the work of God both in our own lives and in the lives of others. We can’t pull out of brokenness prematurely. When we do, the work goes unfinished. Brokenness, as bitter as it is, must be seen all the way to the end.
It’s okay to be broken.
Brokenness is not failure.
Brokenness is the most precious gift we could ever bring to God.
“You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:16,17
Brokenness is not the end…it is the beginning of redemption, and it is the season before greatness. It is the refining that is needed to fully embrace God’s position in our lives and his plan for our future.
The breaking will not last forever, but it is not gone for good.
God allows seasons of brokenness to come in and out of our lives as long as there is something inside of us that needs to be squeezed out. The purest olive oil is the result of a long and necessary process. One crush of the olive can’t produce the kind of oil that satisfies. It takes time, it takes pressure, it takes pain.
Please hear me out…if you are breaking, you are not failing. If you are broken, you have not failed. God is already at work producing in you the character, the strength, the compassion woven deep within your heart to stand in victory on the other side of this journey. His hand has not left you. His hand is holding you. He is holding your tears, your cries of “I don’t understand why this is happening”, your losses and your dark days.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 35:18
The world may see failure. God sees greatness.
“Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.” Ecclesiastes 7:3-4
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