Two people can be looking at the same scene and see very different things. Why is this? I think it’s partially due to personality, temperament, worldview, and life experiences. Having different opinions about the state of the country, the state of the kitchen, the state of the church, whether summer is better than winter or if hotels are better than bed and breakfasts is what makes conversation interesting. And fiery!
However, there is the human perspective and the God perspective. The longer I follow God and his ways, the more I see that his perspective is very different than mine and the more I know God’s heart the more I trust his perspective. And the more I long for his perspective.
You see, I will think the bad things that happen to me are a result of something I did wrong or some secret sin I have in my heart. Or I see bad things as not really God’s will for me, it’s merely the consequence of someone else’s choice that spilled over into my life. Or he allows them because he ‘won’t give me more than I can handle’. Really?
All I see is right now. All I see is my life, at this moment. I cannot see past this moment. I cannot see into the future. I can’t even see the past.
But God can.
Are desert times His will? I wish I could say ‘no’, but then I read how Jesus was led by the Spirit to the desert. Hmm…if Jesus could be led into the desert by the Spirit, and Jesus is the son of God, who am I to think that I wouldn’t be led into the desert?
Are sufferings His will? Wouldn’t it be nice to say ‘no’? But then I read how Jesus suffered and died and how I am to be like him in his sufferings.
Will God not give us more than we can handle? Umm….than why would we need him? When would we learn to rely on Him? When would we experience his power in our lives?
God’s perspective is very different than mine. I would love to try and explain away the bad things that happen in my life or justify them or blame them on someone else and play the victim. What if I stopped it and just stood with my hands open and accepted whatever came my way and focused on God and His goodness and unchanging nature rather than focusing on what I wish didn’t just happen?
What could happen if, as a church, we all stopped trying to explain away our circumstances and started giving glory to God because he is God? We would see a revival sweep across our nation and world. We would see Jesus-followers living in victory and joy despite our circumstances.
It’s a word that speaks to the heart of every man or woman, for aren’t we all in bondage to something or another? Galatians 5:1 states: ‘It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.’ Initially, we are set free for freedom to run straight into the arms of God. However, it’s the day to day living that brings us back into bondage. Because, yes, I have been set free. I am free in Christ. I am a new creation. But I choose whether I am going to stay in that place. I choose whether I am going to believe that I really, truly am a new creation.
Freedom.
Bondage.
One is given to us by a scandal of grace and the other is given to us by the scandal of our shame.
There is a cycle of shame in our bondage. We long to be free and we believe we are free, but habits are habits and trenches are trenches and ruts are deep and long held patterns of thought keep us from fully, habitually entering the freedom of Christ. The shame happens when we scrape and claw and transform our way out of the bondage and just as we reach the crest, we hit a proverbial ‘bump’ in the rut and we fall. We fail. It’s the cycle of shame: Try. Succeed. Fail. Confess. Redemption. Faith. Repeat. A cycle of shame.
What if there was a way into freedom? For good and for always?
What if we explored the different ways we find ourselves in bondage?
Some of those areas are: Addiction. Pride. Fear. Skepticism. Insecurity. Lack of belief. Idols. Religion. Tradition. Opinions. Identity.
I believe freedom begins when we understand brokenness. But wait? I thought we are talking about freedom in Christ? What does brokenness have to do with freedom?
Because brokenness precedes freedom.
You see within the heart of every person lies the innate desire to survive. Humans are hard-wired to survive. There are countless stories of survivors who survived because they were driven by their own will. Everything we experience in this physical life is a reflection of our spiritual life so let’s go back to the beginning.
Because of Adam and Eve, our innate nature is sinful. That is the nature that is driven to survive. So when we accept Christ as our savior, as we surrender our control of our own lives over to him, we accept the reality that our minds, wills, motivations, personalities– which are inherently prone to sin– are still with us. I know I am a new creation, but I also know that every day I have to stand firm so I don’t fall back into the bondage of slavery to selfishness and pride.
So begins the journey into freedom. It starts with surrender. It travels through brokenness and ends with freedom.
Brokenness is not something most of us run towards. If anything I am driven to avoid brokenness. Brokenness denotes failure. It identifies me as ‘less than’. Brokenness is the antithesis to this culture of the ‘pursuit of happiness’ and the American dream. What if, what if the way to our dream takes us through a broken place? Would we chase after it?
This life—this God-life—is found through the cross and what did the cross do to Jesus? It broke him. Reconciliation with the God of the ages, the God of creation, the God who chases me and loves me more than I can imagine, can only be found through the broken, yet resurrected body and life of Jesus Christ.
Brokenness.
It’s a good thing.
It’s a God thing.
I would love to share my story to freedom through brokenness in hopes that you, friends, will see your brokenness in a different light. That you will see it through freedom’s light and that you may run free straight into the arms of my Faithful God.
Who am I? That is the age old question any of us ask–who are we, exactly? The easy answer is that I am a late-thirties something woman, wife of 18 years, mother of four children, worship leader, homeschooling mother, and friend. The hard answer is that I am still becoming. It is a journey that unfolds day by day, circumstance by circumstance, strength to strength, weakness to weakness. This little place will be a documentation of that journey to becoming. I believe life lived is to be shared. Life is not a solo experience. I want to share the journey and in some small way encourage fearlessness and courage in living life. I am learning to welcome grace into my life. I want to share that grace with you.
You. Who are you? You could be a mother, a wife, a single woman, a friend, a pastor. You could be motherless. You could be a grandmother. You could be a doctor or a checker at the local big box store. That’s the easy answer. The hard answer is that you are becoming as well. The beautiful answer is that when we welcome grace, when we open our arms to grace we ‘become’ bit by slow bit.
In this place, we will explore grace and brokenness and freedom. In order to get there we will examine the things that prevent us from welcoming grace, embracing brokenness and celebrating freedom. At the end of the year I hope we have accomplished opening our arms a little wider to grace.
