BROKENNESS
By Suzanne Benner

In The Calvary Road, Roy Hession says, "To be broken means to have no rights before God and man. It does not mean merely surrendering my rights to Him but rather recognizing that I haven't any."

I think of brokenness as coming to the end of myself, who I am and what I can do, and admitting that it just isn't enough to satisfy God. I don't easily reach that point. Naturally I cling to the notion that I have some ability, some good, some authority by which I deserve things.

Maybe growing up in a Christian home and never having done much wrong, from a worldly point of view, made it difficult for me to confess that I don't deserve God's love and that I'm not entitled to salvation. It took Crohns disease to humble me, to break the pride and self-righteous attitude I had before God and other people. Being broken freed me to realize how much I had truly been forgiven and how amazing it is to be loved undeservedly.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus is described as the cornerstone of our faith. Then it says, "He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed" (Matthew 21:44).

I believe that each of us must fall on Jesus and confess that we have nothing to give Him. We have only two choices: to fall on Jesus and allow ourselves to be broken, or to refuse and be crushed in the final judgment.

When we are broken we admit we have nothing to give God. But praise God, that what He wants is our nothingness! King David said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Psalm 51:17).

When we humble ourselves before our Creator and admit our need, He fills us with His presence and His love.

~ O God, help me to understand what it means to be broken before You. Make me willing to lose my arrogance and self-righteousness in order to have a real relationship with You.

Related Links

Beauty in Brokenness
http://www.christianwomentoday.com/growth/lee.html

About the Author

Suzanne Benner lives in Calgary with her husband and three school-aged children. She leads a small group Bible study in her local church and is passionate about Scripture memorization.