Broken Things

‘Bread flour must be ground:’ Isaiah 28. 28.

Brokenness isn’t a popular subject, especially in a world that applauds bravado. Yet it’s usually the price of success as far as God is concerned. In most of the Bible’s great success stories there’s a chapter on breaking.

How did Moses, Prince of Egypt, become the meekest man who ever lived? (Meekness depicts a wild horse that’s broken and responsive to the slightest tug of the rein.) Forty years in the wilderness will do it every time!

How did Saul, a proud Pharisee, become Paul, a slave of Christ and a servant to every believer? Listen: ‘Our light affliction … is working for us’, 2 Cor. 4. 17 NKJV.

Now there’s a new concept for some of us: ‘affliction … working for us’. It’s one thing to be broken like the prodigal because you have disobeyed your heavenly Father, it’s entirely another to be broken in the process of doing His will.

Gideon’s three hundred men had to break their pitchers before the light within could shine out, and the enemy be defeated. Elisha had to break his plough, sacrifice his security, and follow Elijah before he could qualify for a double portion. Mary had to expose herself to ridicule and break her alabaster box over the feet of the Lord Jesus, in order to receive one of His highest commendations, ‘Wherever this gospel is preached … what this woman has done will also be told’, Matt. 26. 13 NKJV.

If you want to accomplish anything for God, you must be willing to be broken in all areas of your life, including your ambitions, reputation, desires, and self-will, just as grain must be ground to make bread.