BROKENNESS - Louis Gervais

BROKENNESS

Hello and greetings in the Name of the Son of Him Who will not Despise a Broken and Contrite Heart, Jesus Christ!

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” –Psalm 51:17 NAS

This week I shed some tears. Reason being, we pealed a bunch of onions and put them through a food processor. But it got me thinking. Your eyes don’t start to tear until you cut the onion open. And the fragrance of a rose is spread further when it is stepped upon. And, in the same way, God may require us to go through crushing circumstances in order for us to be more useable in His hands. “While He was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on His head.” –Mark 14:3 NIV. “Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” –John 12:3 NAS. It goes without saying that the alabaster jar had to be broken in order for the fragrance to spread; brokenness was required in order for the jar to fulfill the purpose of its existence.

Also, a horse that does not consent to be ridden is useless to his rider. It has to be broken first. Has God brought your will under submission to His own? Have you unreservedly consented to a life of full surrender to the Lord of Hosts? Jesus broke the bread with which they fed the 5,000, and they picked up the broken pieces afterwards. “And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’” –Luke 22:19 NAS. Jesus Christ did not hold back, but He obediently gave His all when He died on that cross for your sin. Have you given your all to Him Who bought you with His own blood?

Under the old covenant it was said, “present the grain offering broken in pieces as an aroma pleasing to the LORD.” –Leviticus 6:21b NIV. Is your life a living offering to God? Your will must submit to His. What I see in God-honoring brokenness is a total absence of pride. “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” –James 4:10 NAS. And this week I found the following quote to yet again be of great encouragement: “The sweetest part … is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me, or how.” –Hudson Taylor

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” –1 Peter 5:6-7 NAS