Broken...Beautiful.

This is one off the walls I had to climb at the Warrior Dash!Have you ever tried to scale a wall?  It’s not easy.  I have had to scale many walls during my years between camps and other crazy things I volunteer to do!  Scaling a wall is not an easy thing to do, it would be a whole lot easier to break down the wall.  Like I said, I have encountered many walls in my life.  Some of the walls were physically real, but some were emotional or spiritual.  In our human flesh and with our human desires, we all build walls.  Some good, some bad.  Walls that can make us, walls that can break us.  Walls that can keep us from getting hurt, but walls that can separate us from the ones we love.  Walls that keep us from getting distracted, but also walls that keep us from moving on in life.  Walls that help us live, but walls that can kill us spiritually.  Walls that need to stand, but also walls that just need to go away. Let’s focus on the walls the need to be done away with.

I have a lot of stuff I could say and there are a lot of verses that I could list, but I want to give you the nutshell version of my thoughts.  You’re welcome.  Now, you might be thinking, What walls have you built in your life?“What in the world is going on in that head of yours and what in the world does this have to do with walls in my life?”  Well, let’s start here.  Stop.  Think.  What are some “walls” in your life that are keeping you from living the life God has for you?  Everyone has them. Worries?  Doubt?  That one temptation that gets you every time?  What is it?  What is that wall that needs to be broken in order to see God fully?

Broken. We see in Genesis 32:22-32 that it wasn’t until Jacob’s hip was broken that he received the name Israel and his blessing.  We see in John 6:11-14 that it wasn’t until Jesus broke the fish and the bread that over 5,000 people were fed.  We see in Mark 14:3-9 that it wasn’t until the woman broke the jar that Jesus was anointed and honored.  Finally, in John 19 it wasn’t until Jesus’ body was broken that we were redeemed.  Broken.  Brokenness is a key to being used by God. 

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”  Ps 51:17

Brokenness is an attitude of the heart that is completely submitted before the Lord. No stubbornness, resistance, or self-will is within the heart of a person that is completely broken before the Lord.  This week, focus on brokenness.  If anything in your life needs to be broken, allow it to be.  If not, pray that God would break the walls that satan is throwing at you.  Ask God to break the walls that people put up and resist Him.  The thing I love about broken is that God uses the broken.  We have seen that time and time again.  God loves to take broken and put it back together.  Not only put it back together, but make it something even better and more beautiful than we could ever imagine.  Ask God to take all the broken things in your life and rebuild them to something better...Something beautiful.  This week, instead of wearing yourself out trying to scale the wall or keep it up, ask God to break it and break you. We are sinners, but He is a Savior.  He can (and will) take our brokeness aside and make it beautiful.  Today, may we be broken before God and allow Him to make it beautiful.