Brokenness

"And some of us have found that there is no prayer that God is so swift to answer as the prayer that He might break us."

~Roy Hession

In ministry, it is so easy to get caught in the flow of things, yet in the course of changing currents, we can want something so badly that we move out of the flow and into the strain of forcefulness. By the time we realize how far we have swam from the stream it is usually too late. Finding ourselves on our knees wondering how things have gotten the way they are, we pray that prayer we dread and love all at once.

"Lord, Break Me...!"

Brokenness is not something I generally like, but desperately want and dearly love the fruit of. It is the removal of "I" and the placing of "Him". Sometimes in ministry I can want something done so bad that I push and push until it's done. With very little to no fruit production, I find only my own efforts to "do".

To be conformed to the image of Christ is to allow God to break us of us. This is not a one time process, but a daily routine. The denial of this process is the denial of Christ to work in our lives.

I find myself in bad places when the prayer for brokenness comes to my mind and heart. I have pushed too far in my own direction and the result is frustration, conflict, and pain. The time for brokenness in my life comes when I think I have it all together, when I believe I am in control.

The fruit of brokenness isn't too hard to grasp. Take a look at the ultimate display of brokenness, Christ's way to the Cross. He was accused, sentenced, ridiculed, tortured, spit upon, disgraced, laughed at, nailed to a cross and left to die. The condition of His heart... "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  

Flash forward 2000 or so years, what is the condition of our hearts? Accused, sentenced, ridiculed, tortured, spit on, disgraced, laughed at and persecuted even unto death; do we demand our rights? Justice? Position? Revenge? Do we demand "our way"?

The brokenness of Christ brought restoration between man and God. Our brokenness before God and man brings restoration of our relationships. The sooner we realize we are not in control, the sooner we come to grips with the eternal fact that God is. The sooner we are broken, the less pain is caused.

Whether you are in ministry or not, if conflict, frustration, and pain is your norm, will you let God break you?

"Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,

Oh, to be lost in Thee,

Oh, that it might be no more I,

But Christ that lives in me!"