From the Minister's Desk . . .
Gale Nelson
Strength From Brokenness
And the Lord said, Simon,
Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you
as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should
not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your
brethren. Luke 22:31,32
Having suffered the pain of
sorrow (and maybe having stumbled in our faith), we are
stronger for having had that experience -- if we respond to
it in the right way. Like a broken bone that is stronger
at the spot where it was mended, we can gain strength from
our brokenness.
Our chosen response to suffering is what makes the
difference, of course. And choosing correctly is not easy.
There are two opposite dangers that must be avoided. On the
one hand, we must stay away from self-pity, but on the
other, we must steer clear of self-righteousness. When we've
been broken by some experience in life, we tend to veer back
and forth between these extremes. With practice, however, we
can learn to respond to heartbreaks with reverence,
gratitude, and humility -- and when we do, we find that
hardships help us more than they hurt us.
In what sense, though, can we say that broken people are
stronger? Well, for one thing, those who've had their hearts
broken are often wiser and less vulnerable to certain
temptations. After Peter had denied the Lord three times and
recovered, he would have been more vigilant in that
particular area for the rest of his life. But not only that,
faith, hope, and love are often more real to those who've
been tried by fire. Job, for example, was a man of
considerable faith before his ordeal, but after it was over,
he found that his faith was a finer thing by far (Job
42:5,6).
Not everybody has to be broken by sorrow in order to learn
spiritual strength; some are wise enough to learn from
others' ordeals (Proverb 21:11; 22:3).
Nevertheless, there can be no question that those who are
the strongest spiritually are often those whose hearts have
been torn apart and then mended. Life in this world is hard,
we must be frank to say. It is ugly, and it is dangerous.
We're never more than a step away from sorrow or shame, and
the weight of the world may not be something we can bear
without breaking.
The victory is ONLY in Jesus
(I Cor. 15:57-58), who died for us, that we
might have life eternal. The choice is up to you.
Don't leave this world without HIM.
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