Broken in the hands of the Almighty

What does it mean to say one is broken or to be broken? How many times have we used this term on ourselves without knowing what it entails? The Bible even makes reference to this word a couple of times. So what is it all about?

Over the last 3 months, I have been praying and asking the Lord to break me and teach me what this truly means. I believe that He has revealed a small part of brokenness to me. I would like to share this with you…..

In Mark 14:3 it refers to the woman breaking the alabaster flask (And while he was in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster cruse of ointment of pure nard very costly; and she brake the cruse, and poured it over his head.) Now the word for brake here is ‘suntribo’ which literally means to crush completely, to shatter. Only after she did this, could the fragrance of the oil be released. Before the time it was still contained within the vessel.
Now I want to draw a conclusion here: Lets say the oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit and we are the vessels. Isn’t it true that the Holy Spirit can only be effectively released through us once our soul is broken? Isn’t it true that only then our works can be fruitful? Aren’t we only useful when God can come forth through us? My answer to all of these, yes! The above can only happen if one is truly and utterly broken!!!

If we are not broken before God, His life is confined within us and there is no flowing forth. That means we are prohibiting Him. We are keeping Him in ourselves. He cannot work because we won’t let Him. How terrible is that? Confining God to work because we are selfish! Now some may argue, “but the Lord doesn’t limit Himself through us.” But He does! As God chose to work through His sent Son, so the Son chooses to work through us (Joh.20:21 - Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.) He appointed the saints as His vessel. His way to work here on earth. His way to release power and life. We the church are His way that He chooses to work through!

When one is completely broken before the Lord, He can move through us and touch people around us without us even knowing about it. The flesh no longer stands in the way so God can move freely. Maybe it has happened too you as too me that you have met some people whom you immediately could sense the Holy Spirit working in. After some time I usually learned that this person was at one stage in his or her life totally humbled before the Lord because of a certain situation. I have seen this a couple of times. My explanation for this – that certain individual was so broken by the Lord that He can now move freely through that person and touch the people he or she comes in contact with. 
In Psalm 51:17 it says that the sacrifice God wants is a broken spirit. Why is it so important to be broken? When we are broken, our spirit naturally abides in God’s presence and we no longer need to retreat God ward, for our spirit is always in His presence. This means that we can just be as present in the spirit when we are working, playing etc. as when we are quietly sitting in our room. Because the flesh no longer influences the spirit. They are separated!

If we ask God to break us according to His will, then we can expect Him to do so. But we should not make the mistake of thinking that it’s going to come easily. It is a hard process. Your flesh will be crushed completely, smitten until all that is left, is a broken vessel useful in the hands of the Almighty.

Watchman Nee said, “There is no one more beautiful than one who is broken.”

May the Lord teach us all the true meaning of brokenness.

Blessings

Marcel