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"Brokenness to me has become an effort to live life as a person who, at the same time, is totally NOTHING to God and totally EVERYTHING to Him. Confused? I hope so. Spiritual brokenness is something with which I think we need to wrestle deeply."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 164.
How can we be nothing and everything at the same time? That just sounds crazy. Yet, that's what I'm coming to understand is the perfect view of being broken when it comes to how to relate to this infallible God that loves us so.
Brokenness is a condition that many believers will say is necessary before we can come fully under the covering of God in our lives. What is meant by that is that it typically takes some pretty bad conditions in a person's life before they are willing to turn to God.
This isn't an all together crazy idea or unique concept. Check out any addiction recovery process and you will hear phrase "rock bottom" being used when it comes to what it takes for a person to be ready to deal with their condition. Until such time when the addicted person hits rock bottom, it is really pretty useless to try and help them to recover - they just aren't ready. It isn't until that person is really broken that they might be ready to choose a different direction.
In some sense that is exactly the case with a relationship with God. We have to hit our bottom before we can be lifted out into a life where God is more of a part of that life. Problem is that I really don't think that we should ever come out of that place of realization that we are totally broken. Before you come unglued with that last statement, let me explain what I mean.
You see, as we come out of that broken state in life pride has an amazing way of taking over in ways that really hamstring our ability to fully recover. It is so easy to think that we have it all under control when things go from worse to better in our lives. It is exactly that kind of thinking that took us to our rock bottom in the first place. Thinking that we have it all under control is a one way ticket to being knocked down on our bottoms. The believe that we have control over any and all aspects of our lives is a sure fire way to the destructive places victim thinking wants to take us.
Here's the crazy part about this discussion on brokenness. God doesn't want us to live the downtrodden kind of life that results when our identity is so completely associated with being broken. At the same time He doesn't want us to let pride take over in ways where we will go back to trying to live out our lives independent of Him. Why would pride work to take over as we come out of brokenness with God leading the way? Simple answer is that as our lives recover from that broken place it is really easy to see how much we really mean to God. That is a place where Satan wants us to get it all wrong.
You see we must mean something to this God that made us. After all, He gave up His own son to make it possible for us to commune with Him for all eternity. That's a big deal! So we must be a big deal to this God that made us. Watch out, this kind of thinking is where pride loves to come rushing in.
That's why I think brokenness, in the spiritual sense, is a way of living where we are everything to God and nothing to him all at the same time. You see God can't stand for us to be so beaten down that we have no joy in our walk with Him. That's where we live when we live on the side of we mean nothing to God all the time. At the same time God hates the effects of pride that comes with living like we mean everything to Him. It is in that amazing place of the convergence of nothing and everything that the victor shines.
Take a look at today's Bible reading with me now.
Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. Nehemiah 9:19 (NIV)
God's compassion is such a mighty asset in our lives. He is too compassionate to leave us thinking that we mean nothing to Him. His compassion is just as evident when He works to help us get pride out of our lives when we choose to live like we mean everything to Him. It is when we live in that place where nothing and everything collide that we are lead in ways that change can't but happen in and through our lives.
There are days where circumstances will make it seem as though we mean nothing to God. There are also those days when circumstances make us think we mean everything to Him. My advise to you is to let the two come together in ways that cancel out the tremendous highs and the overwhelming lows. The victor lives in the place where they mean nothing to God and everything to Him at the same time. Let that be what makes the good and the bad of brokenness of your life empower your efforts to make change the result of the actions God has prepared for you to take on today.
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