It All Makes Sense Now

I’m going to say this on the front end of this post…I am not sure you need to read this as much as I need to write it. I’m not even sure if it will make sense…but feel like I need to get it out there.

One of our favorite things to do on Sunday after church is to go out to eat as a family. We usually (like 90% of the time) eat Mexican food on Sundays. Trisha and I aren’t sure how or why that started, but it’s tradition now! My boys spent the past week at basketball camp, at the college we attended, so I was looking forward to sitting down for Sunday lunch.

Yesterday, we were eating with our good friend Lindsey, when my boys began to tell her a story. They spent the week with a former basketball teammate of mine, Kenny Todd.  Apparently, (according to my boys) when I first met Trisha in 1993, I introduced her to my friend Kenny and myself by saying, “Hello, there. My name is God, and this is my son.” I can’t believe I said that; I don’t remember saying that; I don’t doubt that I said that. One of my boys asked Kenny, “Why would my dad say that?” He said, “Because he was that cocky.”

As the story ended Lindsey said something I’ve been processing since. She said, “Now it all makes sense.” She was joking, but I said, “What makes sense?” She said, “Everything.” I said, “Seriously, what makes sense?” Lindsey simply said, “Why you needed to be broken.”

Up until 5 years ago, there were a lot of thing I thought I needed:

-I needed a title to find my identity

-I needed the approval of others to find value

-I needed to be recognized as a gifted leader

-I needed to stand out as a communicator

-I needed my church to grow to feel important

It is wild how the insecurity we often feel manifests itself as pride. The person that introduced himself as God had been sexually abused. The person that introduced himself as God had lust issues. The person that introduced himself as God wondered if he would ever be good enough. The person that introduced himself as God had a fear of not fitting in. The person that introduced himself as God felt so insecure and out of place.

Yet, even 17 years later the statement was “He was just that cocky.”

Maybe you think you need a promotion to feel validated. Maybe you think you need pornography to find peace. Maybe you think you need that relationship with someone that isn’t your spouse to feel understood. Maybe you think you need alcohol to take the edge off. Maybe you think you need the approval of others to find value. Maybe you think you need that relationship to feel attractive. Maybe you think you need ________________.

Maybe, what you really need is brokenness. Not the brokenness you and I try to disguise as confidence.

But the brokenness that comes from introducing yourself to others like “Hi, this is God, and I am His son (daughter).”

What have you thought you needed only to find out what you really needed was God?

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  • cshell

    Been a real rough week for me, and i can assure you, God had you write this post for ME. I need more brokenness.

    "It is wild how the insecurity we often feel manifests itself as pride"…so true.

    I haven't slept in two days, i'm emotionally and mentally fried, i have been pushing my wife away (she will read this, so i'm confessing), i can't seem to "let go", i don't know what the future holds…but I don't think I can go on this way.

    Please pray for my heart condition. I need God in a desperate way.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Chuck…I know that you have been wrestling with brokenness for a long time. I am praying for you. God shows up most when we are desperate for him.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/Lindsey_Nobles Lindsey_Nobles

    Hope I get to go back to lunch…that was kind of brutal. ;)

    Tearful reading this…I am realizing how much I need to be broken too. Everyday. Honestly I fear I will never be entrusted with the things I "need" because I can't handle them. I fear I only know how to trust God in my brokenness.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Lindsey…thank you for allowing God to use you to stir this in me. I'd like to encourage you that fear never comes from God. God never says I'll give you a spirit of fear…so know that God longs to have you encouraged and empowered to trust him…even with brokenness.

  • Bill Todd

    That's the ridiculous, upside down logic of living openly with God. By breaking you (and me) down, He brings us to all of the things that we wanted.

    Been reading some rabbinical writings lately. Don't understand most of it, but a theme they continually return to is welcoming the events and situations that break us, even when we are fully in the pain of being broken. The breaking, and subsequent rebuilding, are irrefutable signs of His love for us.

    Who woulda thunk it?

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      The breaking is a irrefutable sign of his love…so true! Thanks Bill!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/kevindeshazo kevindeshazo

    Dang. Just, dang.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      :)

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/morgsmsquared Morgan

    I think you underestimate how much others might not need this message. I NEEDED to read this. God has been in the process of breaking me and I've been fighting it. I thought I was already broken for the vast majority of my life. But reading this makes me realize how badly I need God to help me let go of this tremendous insecurity I feel in my life.

    You rock, Justin!! Thank you for sharing this!!
    My recent post Random strides…

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Morgan…I just want you to know that I am praying for you. Fighting brokenness is such an exhausting thing. He will take your insecurity if you'll continue to give it to him.

      • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/morgsmsquared Morgan

        Thank you! It *is* exhausting to fight. I'll tell you I'm not winning–He is. I'm so thankful too. I am working everyday to try to trust in God when I've spent my life not trusting. I pray He will continue to break me down and shape me.
        My recent post Finding margin…

  • Marla

    Thank you… I’m there. Trying to learn what it is god NEEDS/LONGS for me to learn about myself….

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Thank you Marla! Praying for you!

  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/jennyrain JennyRain

    For years I ran after relationships – thinking that I needed a relationship to define me (whether it was marriage, the right friendships, the right job relationships, etc). Then God let all that come crashing down.

    Though for a few seasons after that I chased after some of the wrong stuff… God was weaning me of my dependence on it.

    I love my hubby, he is awesome – but he's not God. I still need God first. But without my season of utter brokenness, I would not have realized that… I'm so glad for those seasons of "broken"
    My recent post What’s Love Got to Do with it Relationships 101

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Great thoughts Jenny! Your husband isn't God…so many marriages would be better if we didn't expect our spouse to the be the messiah.

  • Sarah

    I am still trying looking for others approval and I am and have been struggling with insecurity. My husband was unfathful to me in 2006 and ever since, even though our marriage has been restored and he has repented and changed, trust issues have reared their ugly head with me. I can relate to your earlier post about being trashed by God becaused I an in a time right now when I feel like I am very depressed. I lost my dad 3 months ago, I am going to lose my marriage if I dont begin to trust, and I have hurt a friend that I had made because I was suspicious of her and my husband. (They work together and we all were friends.) Please pray that I can find security in Jesus and learn to truly trust my husband.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Sarah…I just want to encourage you to give yourself some grace. You are going through a lot right now. The key is to communicate your trust issues in a way that builds intimacy and doesn't erode it. Please let us know if we can serve you in any way!

  • http://www.paulgardner.info/ Paul Gardner

    Wow!

    I feel like God wanted me to read this today!
    My recent post How Important is Repentance

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Thanks Paul!

  • http://taminprogress.com tam

    Woah. Justin, im in tears.

    I tell you this… An unbroken person wouldve never been able to write this.

    Best post I've read in a very, very long time.

    Thank you.
    My recent post classic kota video-

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      tam…you're words mean so much. coming from someone who has pursued and embraced brokenness like you have, i really appreciate your comment. Trisha read me your comment out loud and it was like it blessed both of our hearts!

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/pa3cia patricia

    there is something about being broken that is beautiful in the eyes of God.

    being broken is painful but needed. Coz Jesus's body had to be broken in order for us to be whole.

    We too need to be broken in order to help others come into wholeness.

    thanks for writing this. i love it!

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Powerful connection! Thank you Patricia!

  • evie

    we live in such a broken world, with so many people trying not to be broken. <3
    Lucifer had pride, and we all know what happened to him.
    God break us from ourselves.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Great prayer Evie!

  • Megan Joy

    I thought, and, to my disgrace still do sometimes, that I need(ed) doctors and drugs before God to give me at least a little hope of psychological health.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Megan…I'm praying for you.

  • http://douglasryoung.net Doug Young

    OK Justin…I just have to say that your transparency is such a breath of fresh air. Our lives don't parallel exactly, but I sense in your writing that you we've possessed similar attitudes. This post, in particular, is really resonating with me. Since God opened my eyes, I've been on something of a crusade to make things right that I really botched. In part, it's therapeutic, but it is also a part of my need to be broken. I want and need to be broken so that I can be made whole by the only One who is capable of putting our tattered lives back together.

    RefineUs has really been a blessing to me!
    My recent post Let the Craziness Continue

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Thanks so much Doug. We don't have to experience the same things to need the same things. Thank you for your encouragement…so glad our blog has blessed you!

  • http://www.anotherturnofthepage.com nikkie

    i thought i needed a man who wasn't mine to begin with, a relationship, someone to pay attention and listen up when he wasn't.

    and He allowed me to be broken so that all i really need is Him.

    agreed, He allows broken for a reason.
    My recent post over coffee

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      Thanks for your honesty Nikki! I appreciate it.

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  • Ani

    Wow! He breaks alright. It always hurts but He never leaves us alone. He is there, right there one prayer away. Thank you SO much for serving here. I've prayed for you, your boys, your ministry. I'm still praying for you.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      thank you for your prayers!

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  • http://intensedebate.com/profiles/gritandglory alece

    i know this is a sidebar thought to your actual post, but i love the kind of friendship reflected in Lindsey's comment. wow.

    • http://intensedebate.com/people/davisfamily05 Justin and Trisha

      You are so right…it is what made her original comment mean so much to me…a true friend!

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  • http://twitter.com/LarryHehn @LarryHehn

    Justin and Trisha, my wife and I went through the same ordeal at roughly the same time as you. I am thankful to say that through God's grace and the power of prayer our marriage also has not only survived, but now is better than ever.

    If I could boil it down to one thing that caused me to stray, it was my "need" for affirmation. I looked for it in all the wrong places. It ultimately turned out to be nothing more than an enticing, deadly lie.

    Yet I am amazed and humbled at how God can take such a mess and use it to create something beautiful. I regret that I needed such a huge boot to the head to get it, but I now know humility. I now know that God's love is all the affirmation I need.

    Thank you for sharing your story, and braving the condemnation of those who don't quite understand God's grace yet. Until five years ago I was one of those who were quick to point the finger. Now I know we all need His grace, and need to pick each other up rather than throw stones.