Sunday, October 07, 2007

Blessed, Broken, Given

I have always found it strange that the people who are considered our spiritual forefathers, the founders of the church, the workers of some of the greatest miracles recorded, were so glaringly
human. Jesus had spent a lot of time (three and a half years of constant working and travelling together) with his disciples; Peter, John, Matthew, etc. And yet, it wasn't until AFTER Jesus
appeared to them resurrected did they finally seem to start putting the puzzle together.

They had seen wonder after wonder, miracle after miracle, they had performed these very things in His name with their own hands. They had heard all the stories about rich rulers and poor widows, and had even had private sessions of insight into what the parables meant. They had Jesus, in the flesh, as their personal counsellor. And still, on the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter denied having ever met him - 3 times. The rest of them, who knows the true facts
of what happened to them, but they scattered in fear of their lives.

At that point, they still didn't get it. They just didn't get it. And this speaks volumes of the ways of God. Does he bestow his love on only the worthy, the fixed? Does he commission only the perfect? In no way. So the world will know it's Him and Him alone, He commissions those we would consider the last choice. He loves the destitute, the outcast, the sick, and makes true lovers out of them. His whole purpose is to create a family, to create people who can dwell in His love with Him. And grace is the best creator of what He wants.

Peter was filled with fear and uncertainty, thinking His best friend had been killed, and this was the end of His story - the whole thing a great big tease for the whole world. All of that work, all of the teaching - like it never happened! Do you think God was concerned? No, this is how it happens! We are largely products of our environment anyway, so of course, to be in the presence of a strong character like Jesus 24 hours a day for a number of years will produce in you a Jesus-like behaviour, sim-character. When He's gone, that's when true colours come out. [This reminds me of kids out of high school going to something like YWAM, and they spend all of their time in a certain controlled environment, and they come home on a spiritual high thinking they are going to change their world. They then of course don't have the support of the easy environment anymore and end up falling to old ways in a few weeks and lose heart thinking they've fallen out of God's will, and they look fondly on their time away as something lost. To be sure, there is a season for living in environments like this; Jesus did that with His own disciples.]

True colours are what need to be changed, and unfortunately, these are not "fixed" by creating an environment to live in. If that was the case, I think I'd be living at the monastery up the hill. And the thing is, true colours (ie. the heart) seem to be changed only when the gift is given and recieved (ie. grace, ie. salvation).

We reach a breaking point, a surrendering point, and at that point, that final moment of giving up, control can be given over to God. And we talk a lot about giving up control to God, but really what this is is love - us and God, it's always about love. This is us giving our hearts to Him, and Him giving His heart to us, in the most true love relationship we'll ever be in. This is not about Him becoming your master, about God wanting to be in control of everyone. This is about a husband and wife; you aren't only yours anymore, you belong to your other as well.

God's whole process seems to be blessing, breaking, and giving. I'm sure you can even relate this to your own life. Maybe you're in the blessing phase, maybe in a season of breaking (I'd think there's more than one), maybe you're in the giving time (where you are being given by God to others, in your love for Him). This whole 'Blessed, Broken, Given' concept comes from Luke 24:13-35 (click to read).

What does that have to do with anything? Well, it turns out, this account can be applied quite prophetically, and I'll let these lyrics to a song explain it:

Two men walked on the road to Emmaus
Blind to a stranger they met on the way
Late in the evening, they asked him to supper
To break bread together at the close of the day
The stranger took the bread and bowed his head
Then asked for a blessing then he broke it
Into pieces of three
He gave to these blind men this bread
Blessed and broken
And suddenly their blinded eyes did see
His life was blessed far more than I could ever imagine
He was touched by God's grace more than I'll ever know
Then he was broken by the hands of the father
To bring sight to all blind men who were lost on their way

After God blessed him and after God broke him
He was given to bring sight to all men
When he was blessed
When he was broken
and after he was given
God blessed him and broke him again and again

My life is blessed far more than I could ever imagine
I've been touched by God's grace more than I'll ever know
So let me be given to the hands of the father
Let me feel, what you felt, when you were broken for me
After my blessing, and after my breaking
Let me be given to bring sight to all men
When I've been blessed
When I've been broken
then after I've been given
Lord bless me and break me again and again
Lord bless me and break me again and again

(Cece Winans, Blessed, Broken, Given)

Be encouraged -- being broken doesn't mean you're lost, it means you're on your way to great great things happening in your life. You are a vessel, a carrier of the Lord's own heart (with all its love and power). Know that you are no less loved now, however unloved you feel, than the day you are finally "fixed". You are broken not because He wants to be able to love you more, but because He loves you more than He can bear right now.

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