broken

broken is a weird word when it refers to the human condition. it comes across like the person is unusable or malfunctioning… the truth is that brokenness is what makes us function to the fullest extent. we got to sit down with someone today and hear his story. he had been molested as a middle schooler, grew up into drugs and partying, seeking his own gain and flesh. finally he found Jesus and that fact in itself is enough.. but even after Jesus wounds weren’t immediately healed. he always had an approval addition and thought that he needed to live up to some fantastic standard that others gave him. this made him suppress his wounds and pains. it eventually caught up with him and he broke. the past year of his life was been overflowing with suicide thoughts, extreme depression, isolation, paranoia and identity issues. 8 days ago he called a friend and told him he wanted to kill himself. they sat down - and that night he checked into a rehab center. it was the next day that he confessed and opened his life to people that could begin the healing in his life. he unloaded. and it was good. he was broken. the next 7 days he was in there, he was ministering to his fellow patients - praying with them, for them, sharing the Gospel of Jesus with them, encouraging and speaking life into them. he told us today that he went into rehab hopping to be healed when really he became the healer. through his “malfunction” he was able to bring healing to others and in that - he was healed.

sometimes we need to expose and see our own brokenness before we are able to heal others and be healed. being in God’s Spirit and in his presence humbly and openly has more healing that any rehab in the world. he is a testament to the Lord’s faithfulness and generosity. that through healing others [loving them more than himself] he may be healed. I love God’s ways… though they seem a paradox.

to lose your life is to find it.

may you kill the flesh right now - and follow in the way of our Lord Jesus.