April 2

Accountability day: Let me know where you are in the journey. It is Good Friday and a great day to spend time with Jesus.

“Losers Wanted”

David was a loser. After the great victory over Goliath, his incredible friendship with Jonathan, we now see running from Saul and faking his insanity in Gath. There is also a collecting of a motley crew to be his army. It certainly was a dubious beginning for the next king. What was going on in David’s mind? That is why the Psalms are so important. They give us the inward workings of a man. We see his fear, his anger and his anxieties. We also discover the pathway to wholeness. That pathway is revealed in Psalm 34:18 “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

The principle that David discovers in his down and out time is that when we are broken that gives us the best chance to become whole. For in our brokenness we learn to depend on the Lord. God uses brokenness to get our attention. His desired result is the surrender of our will. For David this was his time in exile. For me it was a disconnection from my wife in the 1985, the raising of three teenagers, the heartbreak of fractured relationships, a bout with depression about 10 years ago and most recently my wife’s Lyme disease.

Times of brokenness come in many flavors. The source of the situation is not nearly as important as how we respond to it. Although the circumstances may be diverse, the divine goal is very simple—spiritual growth through brokenness. I can say that while these periods of time were the most difficult in my life they were the times I grew the fastest spiritually.

Jesus used this description of brokenness in his analogy of pruning. John 15:2 says the Gardener cuts off dead branches that do not bear fruit. But the passage also says that He prunes fruit bearing branches so they can be even more fruitful. When we think we are doing our best and yet experience setbacks, failures, and broken dreams appear in our lives, God may be pruning a fruitful branch to make it more effective. As I continued my journey into this process called brokenness, it amazes me how much I learn when I go through the pruning times.

Here is a prayer of brokenness that I have used many times: My Dear Lord Jesus, show me my bankrupt self and the desperate condition of my broken heart today. Help me to move from brokenness to the spiritual life that is found in You. Lord, teach me to depend totally on your promises and not on my own energy. Help me see your provision to protect, enable, empower, and direct my life. Today help me confide in your power and love alone. I commit my soul to you Lord without reservation. I desire to bear your image, to observe your law, and pursue your service. Open my eyes to see your grace at each step of my journey today. Help me not only to receive you Lord but to walk with you, depend on you, continue with you, be conformed to you, to follow you, love you with all my heart. And when trials come into my life help me to give thanks for the growth they produce. In Jesus’ Name Amen.