WFC Daily Devotional Blog

WFC Sermon Series: Blessed

This Week’s Theme: “Choose Hunger”

Today’s Theme:  “Brokenness Is Meant to Be Permanent”

Key Verse:

Psalm 34:18  The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Meditation

I once struggled with the idea of a broken and contrite heart.

I understood that we need to be mournful and repentant about our sin; the Bible is clear that we should be broken hearted about our sin.  However, I kept hearing people talk about staying broken.  They seemed to be talking about a permanent broken heartedness that is a perpetual state of sorrow and mourning.  That just did not jive with the idea of being joyful.  The Apostle John was clear that his purpose for writing his first epistle was that our joy be complete (1 John 1:4).  Jesus said that He came that we might have live and have it abundantly.

The problem with my thinking was that I was hung up on sorrow and grief.  I was imagining someone permanently dressed in sackcloth and ashes.  I did not have a complete understanding of spiritual brokenness.

Think about a wild horse that must be broken to be of value.  While running free through the countryside sounds wonderful, it does not accomplish anything.  A tamed or broken horse serves a master and gets things done.  And, that is the correct thinking about spiritual brokenness. 

The horse’s will is changed once it is broken.  Its will is aligned with the owner’s will, and a good owner values and cares for the horse.  There is a relationship.  That is what God wants for us.  He wants our will to be permanently broken and reshaped into a heart submitted to His will.  That kind of brokenness does not leave us grieving; it leads to unspeakable joy.  It leads to intimacy with God.  Spiritual brokenness that is prompted by the Holy Spirit leads to an abundant life of service to the King of Kings.

So, brokenness is meant to be permanent because a heart aligned with God’s will is a renewed, joy-filled, and resilient heart.

Questions to Consider

Is my heart truly broken?  Is my heart aligned with God’s will?

This week’s author is Ted Davis.  You can contact him at tedavis@grace4success.com

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 10:43 pm and is filed under Blessed?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.