2/28/12 From
my neighborhood walk to my backyard patio, I saw brokenness. In the physical
realm brokenness seems like such a negative. Destruction. Disenchantment.
Disappointment.
Bu†
God…..these last few weeks has been showing me, once again, the necessity of brokenness
in the spiritual realm. Brokenness is humility---our humble response to God’s
conviction of sin in our lives. It’s one of His ways for accomplishing
transformation in our lives.
In the
BSF lesson scripture (2 Corinthians 4:7-10) reminded me of my “treasure
within.” But how do others see that treasure within? They see it through my
brokenness. When the Lord’s life flows through my weak and frail jar of clay,
Jesus “sticks out all over.”
In my
life, brokenness first had to occur through thick walls of self-protection that
kept both earthly and heavenly relationships at bay. The distance was
self-induced to ensure pain avoidance. For a long while, it worked. Bu†God
began to tear away at the protective seal that I had tightly woven over my
heart. He showed me my sin. The words in Dr.Larry Crabb’s, Inside Out, jumped off the page at me. He called self-protection what it was. Self-protection is a
sin. A sin requiring repentance in order for my relationship with the Lord to
grow.The demand to keep ourselves safe is strong. We look in all the wrong places for the relief our soul desires so badly, developing a style of relating designed to protect ourselves from the pain we fear. Although our self-protective strategies are foolish (even when we get the safety we want, we realize it’s not what we want), we still cling to our ‘right’ to protect ourselves. We demand that our pain be relieved. That core demand must be faced before we’ll give it up through repentance and learn to re-direct our energy into love. (Crabb p.142)
For me
brokenness was a good thing. Painful, yes---but worth the suffering! A
yielding. A willing submission. Rising from the dust of my shattered jar was
the Spirit of the Living Lord. It was His filling in my life that fulfilled me.
Brokenness was my path to wholeness. A dichotomy of sorts---a broken person
ready to wholly serve in grace-filled ways.
When I am broken, the life of my Lord is put on
display for others. Can you see Him?
