Broken... So I don't have to BE BROKEN!

The Bible speaks often to the idea that God is the potter and we are the clay… Pottery in biblical times was a very stringent, painstaking, & detail oriented process. As potters would begin to form a vessel,  if there were any imperfections, the potter would take the imperfect jar and throw it against the wall. This is where the term “Throwing Clay” (common word used for ‘making pottery’) comes from… This clay had to be BROKEN! In order to be reshaped. Sometimes we are thrown against the wall because of our refusal to be broken.. Pliable… Able to be reshaped! SELAH! But, what is BROKEN? I’m glad you asked…

A sister who attends our bible study asked that very same question. She said…

1. What are the pros & cons to being “broken”?? Is it required? If so, why?
2. How do you know if you’re broken? Once you find out, then what?

I decided to start with a SIMPLER QUESTION…

What IS BROKENNESS???

Brokenness for the believer, is having a HEART after God… A Heart that breaks for the things that break his heart… This is the calling of all believers…

That being said brokenness is a required state of Sacrifice…

Psalms 51
16For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

It is not weakness to be sensitive to the things of God or to be emotionally connected to your spirit-man. It is however, something that once you ask for it… You will not be able to give it back. (Not easily anyway)

When I was 14 years old we would go to these youth conferences and I would see kids my age… Crying… Broken before the Lord… Broken and Contrite… Not so much FULL of REGRET… But full of humility that they had been forgiven!  We would sing songs and I wanted to feel as free as they felt…

So, I asked God…

Lord… LET ME CRY…

S/N …where I’m from NO ONE WANTS to cry… It was seen as not only a sign of weakness… but, an emasculation of a man to cry in front of people. So this was big for me…

I literally begged God… for the RELEASE associated with being broken… and, although I do not remember exactly when it happened, I can say that I don’t know HOW to turn it OFF. I cry on TV commercials… LOL Lion King, Toy Story, Nemo… PLEASE! LOL

I can see God in scenarios where many do not… Even in stories that are not God Centric. God shows me his CHARACTER in people and I can’t help but thank him for being GOD even in a person who can’t see his GLORY in them and working through them. That is the definition of brokenness… Seeing God in EVERYTHING and being able to worship the God of the CREATION. The ORIGINAL Story Teller.

Saint or sinner… ALL OUR STORIES begin with HIM!

Pros to Brokenness:
God promised he would hear the cries of the broken! 2 Kings 22:19
He is CLOSE to the Broken! Psalm 34:18
He Heals the broken. Psalm 147:3
He DWELLS IN the BROKEN. Isaiah 57:15
He HONORS the BROKEN. Proverbs 29:23
& and EXALTS the broken… Matthew 23:12
(Now that will PREACH)

Cons: You can’t turn it off! LOL

How do you know you are broken?

• Sensitivity to the things of God…
• Love for the things and people he Loves!
• Sensitivity to the MOVE of the Holy Spirit. (Particularly in YOU!)
• Sensitivity to the SACRIFICE of Jesus Christ.

When you find out you are broken… Then what???

Then… Continue to stay sensitive to him… and buy Plenty of TISSUE!
That is a HEALTHY place to be…

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