God Uses Brokenness In His Kingdom

During a prayer time with a few colleagues that I meet with weekly, one of them prayed that we would be “like Nehemiah and weep over the ruins of the wall.” Immediately, the story of Nehemiah connected with my heart. One thing that spoke so strongly to me was this:

We must be burdened before we can be broken.

When Nehemiah heard of the condition of the walls, gates, and the distress of the people still in the city, he became burden about the need. Nehemiah spent about four months in prayer before approaching the king for permission to go and rebuild the city and the people that were in ruins.

So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” (Nehemiah 1:4 NKJV).

Have you been so burdened by the needs of others that you just wept? Perhaps, you’ve experienced the opposite and prayed that you would feel more compassion. Some years ago, I felt somewhat disconnected from the heart of God and emotionally detached from the needs around me, so I prayed, “Lord help me to cry again.” However, now looking back I should have prayed, “Lord help me to be burdened, so that I can be broken. Help me to feel connected with those that are in need and have a heart to reach them in their darkest hours.”

One of the Bible characters that I admire greatly is the Apostle Paul. I think of Paul as one that remained faithful and somewhat unbroken even though he was beaten with rods, stoned, and shipwrecked. But never have I thought of the apostle as one that wept. However, when reading Philippians 3:18, we see that Paul speaks with tears in his eyes for those that live as enemies of the cross and their unfortunate fate that is to come. Now, can you imagine the burden and the brokenness of the Apostle Paul as he cried over the people’s need of Jesus Christ? 

If we are going to serve in God’s kingdom we must be:
•    Burdened for the need 
•    Broken in prayer
•    Brave enough to serve

God uses broken things!

“But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over” (Jeremiah 18:4 NLT).

When we choose to become broken, our brokenness seizes the opportunity to be a blessing to serve others. #ServingForward