A Broken Vessel

In Gene Edward's book A Tale of Three Kings, he shows how God breaks a man before He uses Him.  David is cited as a chief example of a broken man and the means God uses to break men:  circumstances, people, being misunderstood and wrongly judged.  On Wednesday night I heard a message on brokenness.  A man who is self-assured, self-confident, and self-reliant is unfit for use in the hands of the Master Potter.  There is no salvation in self, only destruction.  God is wise, loving, and good to break us from what kills us.

As pastor Drew preached from the Word concerning Moses and Peter, he used a clay pot smashed by a hammer to illustrate the breaking process.  Moses was raised as a prince in Pharaoh's house and had all the benefits of royalty, while his countrymen toiled under harsh oppression in Egypt.  God used being misunderstood by the Israelites, fleeing for his life from Pharaoh after killing an Egyptian, and 40 years of tending the sheep of his father-in-law to break him.  Peter was a confident, brave man whom Jesus called to follow Him.  Peter was humiliated by denying Jesus Christ after bragging that he would face prison and even die for Jesus.  Moses and Peter are numbered among those men and women of faith whom God shattered before He could use for His glory.

A point of emphasis which I appreciated in the message is that breaking is not a one time thing.  The milestones along the path of Christian experience for me are the points of breaking, not the points when I stood in church, came forward for prayer, or raised my hand in response to an invitation in a service.  I have been broken by my own sin and grave offense before God, broken by death of loved ones, broken by being deceived and lied to, broken by hurtful words and betrayal, broken through the power of God's Word and Holy Spirit, and broken through witnessing the pain of others.  The ways that God breaks a person are all ordained by God to accomplish His purposes for our good and His glory.  If we believe that God is supreme over all, we cannot fault His means or methods.  When God breaks a man, that is an Ebeneezer stone along our path towards eternity in Christ:  that is where God most helped us.  Brokenness is the only way to completion and sanctification in Christ.

God says in Jeremiah 23:29:  "Is not My word like a fire?" says the LORD, "and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?"  Whether the hammer that breaks us is a devastating illness, people, betrayal, being misunderstood, slander, bigotry, or Satan himself, we need to recognize that it is simply a tool in God's hands.  When we are broken, a temptation is the resent or hate the tool God uses.  Instead of hating God or the implement He chooses to use, we must determine to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength.  What did Paul say?  Romans 8:28 reads, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  Faith in God and recognition of His guiding hand brings comfort even in the midst of trials.  When our broken bones are being set back in place, God holds us closely and whispers sweet comforts to our hearts.  Our pain is overshadowed by the healing in His wings, the love from which nothing or no one can separate us from.

Romans 8:35-39 reads, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." ³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  There is only one person who can separate you from the love of God:  you!  You can choose to reject this love, this healing balm which God freely has given to us through Jesus Christ.  We can wallow in our pain, lash out in anger, and flee from the hand of God because we do not trust Him.  We resent Him for allowing suffering.  We can become bitter, cynical, jaded, hateful, and filled with self-pity.  But God's love remains.  It is an active love which pursues all wandering, fleeing, failed men to their graves.  It is a sacrificial love revealed in Jesus Christ as He died for our sins on the cross.

God didn't leave His love for man in the heavens, but sent Jesus so His love could be revealed and received by all who are willing.  Broken bones grow back stronger, and faith in God and our love for Him is strengthened when God breaks us.  Instead of hating the instrument He chooses or the means He uses, may we receive His love and love Him with all our heart, soul, and strength.  Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy!