Thread by @Bezner

The house is quiet now, so story time.

Our topic tonight: Brokenness.

Yesterday one of my college buddies came to town and asked to meet. We sat in lawn chairs outside the church building and talked for quite a while.

He and his family have had quite the time of it.

Without going into too many details, there has been employment drama, kid issues, family stress, financial worry, and a few other sensitive things mixed in.

And yet…there has been an inescapable sense that the Lord is walking with them every step of the way.

That’s what I'm driving at when I talk about brokenness—spiritual brokenness leading to humility—the Presence of God in the midst of the valley.

This is something unique--something that marks people who I greatly admire.

Lots of people have bad things that happen to them, and yet, somehow, they never experience brokenness leading to humility.

I’m not sure why.

Instead of becoming humble, they become bitter. Or arrogant. Or angry.

But there is beauty in humility borne of brokenness.

My friend has lost everything by the world’s standards, and yet he is hopeful. He is at peace. He is finding joy in his family. He is believing daily that the Lord is working something good for His purposes and glory.

And, with each day, he becomes more pliable and humble.

I am convinced God works to humiliate those who follow Jesus so that we can lose our pride.

Jesus was humiliated, hanging naked on the cross. He did so out of love for others.

Our pride must be destroyed, and humiliation is the tactic.

We must die to the opinion of others.

If you’ve ever walked through this, you know: the humiliating circumstances are so outlandish, so ridiculous that they must be from the hand of God.

And so you walk this odd tightrope: You do not *enjoy* being humiliated, and yet you know that the Lord is allowing it to happen.

So what do you do? You (eventually) discern that the Lord is doing a work—a work of the soul within YOU. He is humiliating you so that you will stop being so prideful, so that you will trust Him, so that you will listen to His voice.

And so he humiliates until you are broken.

In the process, you have the sweetest times with the Lord. Your time of reading the Bible is lively. Your times of prayer are sweet. You sense Him with you during the day.

It’s a living version of the Parable of the Gardener. The poop is being piled on so you can bear fruit.

And so, despite the putrid smell, you are grateful for it, because you know it will make you stronger in the long run. You will have deeper roots. You will bear more fruit.

This is the path of brokenness.

And this is where my friend was.

We talked for a long time. We prayed. We both recognized what was happening.

And so we were not—and are not—worried.

We are working to fix the things we can.

But we are trusting that God is working something to the good.

And I can hardly wait to see what it is.

All of this to say: If you are in a moment right now…if you have the *ahem* fertilizer piling on…if you feel that your circumstances are insane…

you might stop to see if it is the Lord breaking you, humbling you.

Because it would be a shame to waste all that pain.

Embrace the breaking.
Allow your humiliation.

Walk with the Lord.

And prepare for the fruit.

Peace and grace. And good night.