Benefits of Brokenness Part 2
Last weekend I had the opportunity to get away with the Cross Point leadership for a retreat. On Friday evening, we watched the DVD of Chuck Swindoll speaking at Catalyst 2009. It was just as powerful on DVD as it was hearing it in person. In his talk he said this:
When God has an impossible task to accomplish, he finds and impossible person and crushes them. So leave room in your life for the crushing. Leave room for the crushing. In every great work of God, brokenness and failure are necessary.
As I thought through this post today, I thought, what could seem more impossible than marriage? Two people coming together and becoming one flesh? Two agendas becoming one, two personalities finding unity, two directions finding common ground and going the same direction.Each with our own junk and baggage and sin…impossible at times.
I wrote a post yesterday on the Benefits of Brokenness Part 1. As I look back over my life, brokenness HAS come…how I’ve responded to it has determined the amount of my heart I’ve allowed God to crush. I haven’t always left room for the crushing. I’ve pretended it away, I’ve hid it, I’ve acted like it didn’t affect me, I’ve posed. When you leave room for the crushing…you experience brokenness and you lose some things that make more room for God.
-You lose your desire to pretend. When you embrace brokenness, you stop pretending. You stop pretending you’ve got it all together; you’ve got all the answers; you have the perfect marriage; you’ve overcome all sins. You lose your desire to pretend to be a better friend than you really are, a better husband than you really are, a better parent than you really are…and you desire to be more of who God calls you to be. You actually want to wake up and be the person you’ve been pretending to be, and you realize that brokenness is the only way to get there. Leave room for the crushing.
-You lose your need to hide. Our natural desire as humans is to hide. What did Adam and Eve do right after they sinned? They hid. We’ve been hiding ever since. One of the best feelings I have had since I embraced brokenness is the freedom that comes from not hiding. You can look at my computer browser, you can look at my bank account, you can look at my DirectTV statement, you can search my movie rental history at Blockbuster…I have NOTHING to hide. Having spent so many years fearing being FOUND OUT, not hiding is a life that I wouldn’t trade for ANYTHING. Leave room for the crushing…as you embrace it and find brokenness your need to hide fades away, and all your left with is FREEDOM.
Which do you struggle with most…Hiding or Pretending? Don’t hide and don’t pretend, and share with us…even if you don’t leave your name, we can pray for you.
25 Comments to “Benefits of Brokenness Part 2”
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"In every great work of God, brokenness and failure are necessary."
Wow. Fantastic thought there.
brought tears to my eyes and then down my cheeks…powerful statement.
Wow. You are killing me this week, Justin.
mine is definitely pretending. I spent the first 25 years of my life in a legalistic church culture where NO ONE admitted or confessed to ANUTHING. So everyone was jacked up, but pretending to be fine. It is a learned behavior that has taken me a decade since I left that church to come face to face with. I also think hiding and pretending are cyclical behaviors and at some point they just feed each other. My tendency to pretend feeds my need to hide which feeds my tendency to pretend more, which then feeds my need to hide more… It’s a sick neverending story.
I’m leaving room…
We must have grown up in the same church!
I can see that you are leaving room for the crushing and that will make all the difference!
i was blown away by chuck at catalyst. blown away.
"leave room for the crushing" – man, that is so powerful.
Amen to that!
I've been broken. I lived behind a fantasy for years and then acted on it. I'm done with pretending and hiding…its just the real me now. Praise God.
Praise God indeed! Thank you Pam!
Wow – what great encouragement to know that my brokenness this past year is going to do something great for God! Of course, we know that – but this approach is just so much more encouraging!
I've been a Christian most of my life, but this past year brought me to my knees daily. I prayed to be used in an extraordinary way – beginning about 2 years ago…and that's when things changed drastically and began to fall apart. Some call it the mid-life crisis.
NOT!! This is the 2nd time in my life that God has knocked me to my bootie to answer that prayer request – so it was a little easier to understand this time around.
I'm hoping that the brokenness is taking a hiatus – so that I can now have room to dream again (in reference to Trish's recent post).
I'm ready…
Praying that your brokenness will lead to God sized dreams!
"pretend" and "hide" huh? Struggle with? Nope, consumed by, both of them for most of my life…thus the "crushing" period now (like that use of the word, exaclty how I feel often).
Pray that God will continue to CRUSH my pride/selfishenss and continue to refine and restore my walk with him and my wife.
I am praying for you too! God loves to answer prayers like that!
I am new to your blog, found it through Sarah Markley. I love it! I have shared it with my husband and he loves it!
This is an incredible post. Too often we don't leave room for the crushing and that is exactly what we need! We are leaving room now.
Thank You!
Thank you so much! I love Sarah's blog and her and Chad's story is incredible! So glad to have you!
Neither anymore! Praise our precious Father for grace & love
We love love live your blog, so much of what you all say has us nodding our heads in agreement, and a lot has helped heal us and re-direct us as we continue the beautiful fight for complete restoration.
Keep up the amazing work!
Thanks for the encouragement. I really do hope there's a God-purpose at the end of what He has taken me through this past year. I am so, so weary from the crushing.
Praying for you Becky!
I feel like I have been crushed! I am not seeing a light at the end of the tunnel….does that mean that I have more crushing to endure? I pray that God would crush me, refine me, and then restore me. I want to be what He has for me!
Moranda…we spent most of last year where you are! Night comes before the morning…we are praying for you!
"Leave room for the crushing"–What a powerful statement!
For so long I lived my life pretending and hiding. I've been through a brokenness and now I'm leaving room for further crushing needed in my life.
Be aware that God may be in the process of crushing people around you. Think about that the next time your waiter is a little slow, because he is pre-occupied. Or the person who cut you off in traffic, or the person at work who could really use a shoulder to lean on.
As my family is broken by this divorce, I see the crushing on my kids. God will turn even something as horrible as this, for the good. I could use that shoulder to day.
[...] My friend Justin Davis blogged about the message and his application of it recently in his post “Benefits Of Brokenness part 2.” which is where I first heard about it. Swindoll says, “When God has an impossible task to [...]
I just found your blog today and you are really ministering to me. I have been protecting my heart from my husband this week because I'm tired of the crushing. I am fatigued! But things have been worse when I protect my heart instead of let God heal it.
Tracy…thank you so much for your honesty and your openness. I will be praying for you and your husband. If we can serve you in any way, please let us know.
Me? It’s the hiding. But I realize that only brokeness can make us whole; and in turn, make us open and not having to hide.
As always, thank you!