Brokenness

Leafrivermac · 10-09-2005, 12:52 PM

This is Liz's article for the church bullitin for this week. She did'nt want to post it because it wasn't in her own words but is a compilation of a study she did. I have no such reservations so I'm posting it.

I thought it was good and it spoke to me . .or at me.[&:] Actually, I should'nt feel that I havn't learned this . . .My Dad told me one time "Son, I have to admire you because if I had of had half of the things happen to me in my life that you have yours, I would have given up a long time ago." He saw my ability to pick up and go on as a strength . . .but the strength wasn't mine, it was is a belief that all is truly in Gods hands and that He gives as well as takes away.

Brokenness

"œThe bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength." 1 Samuel 2:4

There is an oxymoron throughout the Bible. It says that brokenness is strength. How can this be? How can brokenness be strength? In order to use men and women to their fullest extent, the Lord has to break His servants so that they might have a new kind of strength that is not human in origin. It is strength in spirit that is born only through brokenness.
Paul was broken when he was struck down on the Damascus road. Peter was broken after Jesus was taken prisoner. David was broken after his sin with Bathsheba. Joseph was broken when he was left in the pit and then sold into slavery. The list could go on of those the Lord had to break in different ways before they could be used in the Kingdom. The Lord required it of most every major leader that He used significantly "“ brokenness.
Brokenness cannot be achieved on your own. It is something God does Himself. We cannot determine that we are going to be broken, but we can refuse to become broken. When God begins this deeper work in our lives, we can kick and scream and refuse the process. We can manipulate and strive to stay on top, but it only delays His work.
When we are broken, we see the frailty of human strength and come to grips with the reality that we can do nothing in our own strength. Then, new strength emerges that God uses mightily. Pride and mammon are ruling strongholds in today"™s society. Brokenness is considered a weak position. However, God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. (1Peter 5:5 - Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.) Until we are broken we cannot be an aroma pleasing to the Lord (Leviticus 6:21). God wants us to be an aroma to all we come in contact with. In order for this to happen we must be a broken vessel in His hand.
Do not fear brokenness, for it may be the missing ingredient to a life that emerges with a new kind of strength and experience not known before. Pray for a broken and contrite heart that God can bless. Pray that God would allow you to become a pleasing aroma to Him no matter the cost.

LBR · 10-09-2005, 02:17 PM

I may not be understanding "brokenness" the way you (or Lizzie) meant it, but I don't think that God causes these things to happen. For instance, I don't think it was God's will that David would sin with Bathsheba, or that Christ would be taken prisoner. God is good, and nothing but good can come from Him. Rather, He knows that these things will happen, and gives us the strength to carry on through Him.

I do agree that it will make you a stronger person. The modern saying is "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". There's a lot of truth in that, especially when we put our lives in God's hands. There is no guarantee we won't have hardships, but there is a guarantee that there will nothing we can't handle with God's help.

Chad

Leafrivermac · 10-09-2005, 02:41 PM

Quote:

For instance, I don't think it was God's will that David would sin with Bathsheba,

Good point Chad, I agree that it is outside the will of God when we sin.

Quote:

or that Christ would be taken prisoner.

It may start another discussion, but I disagree here . . .I fully am convinced that every step that Christ took and every event in His life was in the Fathers will. This could turn into an interesting topic on it's own.

LBR · 10-09-2005, 02:46 PM

I agree that everything Christ did was God's will, but I don't belive that God caused men to sin--that would be contradictory to His nature. He knew it would happen, but He didn't make it happen--He let events take their natural course. I agree--it could get deep here, and I sure don't claim to have all the answers.

Chad

Leafrivermac · 10-09-2005, 02:59 PM

I see where your mostly probably right. There are a few scripture that this subject brings to mind but I havn't studied it out.

m.t.hands · 10-09-2005, 03:16 PM

i see it as God giving us a choice to make decisions, good or bad, if you never made a mistake you'd have nothing to learn, BTW i learn something new everyday

Leafrivermac · 10-09-2005, 03:29 PM

Another thought, . .I agree that God is good, and good things come from God. But I have to bear in mind that all good things do not always seem so good at the time we're going thru them. It wasn't in Gods will that David should sin, but the consequences of that sin and the brokenness that it wrought in David had to have been.
1Pe 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Rebel Hog · 10-09-2005, 04:19 PM

From one pumpkin to another!!!!!!!

A woman was asked by a coworker, "What is it like to be a Christian?"

The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin." God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."[color=black ptsize="10" family="sansserif" back="#ffffff"]

[/color][size=2 ptsize="18" family="sansserif" back="#ffffff"]This was passed on to me by another pumpkin. Now it's your turn to pass it to other pumpkins.

I liked this enough to send it to all the pumpkins in my patch.[/size][size=3 ptsize="12" family="sansserif" back="#ffffff"] [/size][/align]

MOTOWNHONKEY · 10-09-2005, 04:46 PM

That's right reb than your placed on the porch and some kid kicks your face in.

leafriverlizzie · 10-09-2005, 08:31 PM

Quote:

God is good, and nothing but good can come from Him.

I wondered about taking the David thing out. But upon thinking about it more I didn't. This is how I see it. Of course it was not God's will for David to sin. David was king and I imagine that his position got to his head and he committed a sin that he might not have, had he remained a shepherd without that position of power. It wasn't David's sin that broke him, but the consequence of it. God does not want us to sin. But sometimes we sin anyway. This is not God's will for our lives, therefore, in order to bring us back to where He wants us, He will chastise us. Sometimes that chastisement is needed to break our own will and bring us back to where God wants us to be. (Hebrews 12:6, 7 - For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?) The chastisement may not feel good while we are receiving it, but in the end it is for our best interest. I remember when I was a teenager I used to be on the pity pot all the time. I had been through some much heartache and abuse growing up that I felt that if anybody deserved to feel sorry for themselves, it was me. I lived with the church secretary at the time and she was also a counselor. One day when I was having one of my pity parties she let me have it! She told me to wake up and stop playing my little pity games. Man! That was like a slap on the face! In my mind I wasn't playing any games. I had faced a very hard childhood that most children will never have to face and by golly I deserved to feel sorry for myself! I felt indignant and rebellious about her chastisement of my attitude. But later on I began to think about what she said and realised although I prided myself in not being prideful, my self-pity was a type of pride in itself and it solved nothing. I had to move on with my life instead of wallowing in my past. It did not feel good to be chastised but it was for my good. And I became a stronger person because of it. Sometimes we need to become broken so that we can stop thinking about our own will, our own way so that the only place we have left to look is to God. Then we become strong, not in our own strength but in and for the Lord.