Everywhere I Go: Learning to See JesusSample

BROKEN THINGS Part of the maturing process of the Christian life involves suffering. We learn more through brokenness than we can ever learn in times of ease and blessing. I don't know about you, but if suffering were an elective, I would never take the course. I don't rejoice when suffering comes, I rejoice when it leaves. Whether it is a health issue, a financial difficulty, a relationship problemﾗwhateverﾗtough times are no fun. We don't like them! But Paul says if we have identified ourselves with Jesus Christ, we will experience brokenness. He did - and so will we. A.W. Tozer once said, "I doubt God ever uses any greatly until they have been seriously hurt." Brokenness before blessing. This is an immutable principle. For a tree to be used, it must be cut down. For a rock to become the foundation of a skyscraper, it must be broken. If soil is not turned over with a plow, no seed can be planted, and therefore, no harvest gathered. The Bible says that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it cannot bear fruit. In Genesis, fellowship was broken with God, so that man would turn to Him for grace. In Exodus, the commandments were broken, establishing our need for salvation. In Samuel, a man with a broken back was seated at the king's table. In Psalms, we read again and again that God honors a broken and contrite heart. In the New Testament, bread was broken, and an alabaster box shattered to pieces, tiles of a roof were broken to lower a broken man for healing, and a net was broken by the weight of many fish. Then finally, in the upper room, our Savior said, "This is my body, broken for you." We see brokenness as a tragedy, but God sees it differently.