By Pastor Greg
Two hunters hired a pilot to fly them into the far north for elk hunting. They were quite successful, bagging six big bucks. When the pilot returned, he objected and said, "The plane can only carry four of your elk. Those other two will weigh the plane down too much. You'll have to leave two of them behind."
The hunters were insistent. They said, "Last year, we shot six elk and the pilot let us put them all on a plane that was the exact same model." Reluctantly, the pilot finally agreed. Rolling down the grassy runway, the plane was not able to take off, crashing into the wilderness.
Climbing out of the wreckage, one hunter said to the other, "Do you know where we are?" "I think so," replied the other hunter. "I think this is about thirty feet from where we crashed last year!"
Only a self-sufficient, self-reliant, stubborn individual would continue to live a self-destructive life; never willing to admit that they’ve reached the end of their rope; never admitting that their life is broken. So, why don’t more people admit they are weak? Why don’t more people admit they have failed? I honestly don’t know the answer, but I do know that if a person will humble themselves before God, He will lift them up. He will restore them. He will transform them, but only if they are ready to be broken. And sometimes that brokenness comes when our life hits rock bottom; when we crash and burn. But God is able to rebuild our life in ways we couldn’t begin to imagine, especially when personal situations or the pressures of the world or even our own poor choices tear us down. But even then God cannot accomplish His work in us unless we are ready to submit our lives to Him; until we become broken.
Brokenness. God uses broken things. It is the broken alabaster jar that gives forth perfume. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken grain to give bread, and broken bread to give strength. It is the broken Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever. It is the bent and broken person who God rebuilds when they finally turn to Him pleading, “If You are real then help me. I’ve no where else to turn.” But brokenness is a word many of us refuse to embrace; a word that stumbles awkwardly from our tongue. But my friend only when we are broken can we be rebuilt.
In one of the clearest contrasts of a person broken and a person who was not is found in Luke 7. Now one of the Pharisees was requesting Him to dine with him, and He entered the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. And there was a woman in the city who was a sinner; and when she learned that He was reclining at the table in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume. Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet He would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching Him, that she is a sinner.” Luke 7:36-39. A woman, who more than likely had been a prostitute, kneels broken at the feet of Jesus. And in her brokenness she pours out the tools of her trade at the feet of Jesus. The conduct of Simon, on the other hand, stands in stark contrast to this woman’s attitude. One was broken at the feet of Jesus; the other stood firmly and confidently face to face with the Savior.
In another example, Jesus tells of two men who were in the temple praying. “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ “I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:10-14. Again, one comes to God with a broken attitude; the other stands face to face with his God.
The necessity for our brokenness occurred to me at one of the most powerful conferences I have ever attended. 1500 pastor’s filled an auditorium in anticipation of being strengthened and revived. I was thirsty for new strength and a deeper focus on what God had called me to do. But I never expected what I received. Unlike any other business convention you will ever attend, at this gathering of pastors, we were called to be broken; to admit that we could not do this on our own. As the leader that day continued to teach, just about every pastor in that place was in tears. Why? Because brokenness was what we needed, but brokenness was so hard to be given.
Are you bent and broken before your Lord? Or are you still clinging to the false hope that the next time things will turn out better? Are you bent and broken before your Lord? Or do you still refuse to admit your weakness? Restoration cannot begin unless you are broken; torn down before the Savior who promises that if we will let Him, He will build us up into something new and different and stronger than we could ever accomplish on our own. Will you continue to stand face to face with your Savior in your pride and stubbornness and self sufficiency? Or will you fall broken at His feet and allow His grace and His glory to build you back up into the person He knows you can be. What will it be?
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