BROKENNESS,
PROCESS OF
THE REFINISHING of antique furniture is an awesome process. Strong chemicals strip away the old varnish. Then sandpaper machines sand it down, exposing all the crooks, nooks, and crannies that need repair. The sanding continues until the surface is even. Then it is varnished, over and over until it has a smooth, refinished surface. It is varnished until it gets back the glory of its originally intended look.
God will strip you down. He will sand and sand. He sands until He exposes every scratch, every nook, and every cranny. This is the part that hurts the worst. This is the part where most believers will cry out to the Lord in pain. This is the part when we must trust that His grace is sufficient. God follows the sanding process with the varnish. This is the point at which the life of Christ shines through in the life of the Christian. Your identity in Christ begins to reveal itself, and you’ll find power you’ve never had because you’ve been broken.57
[Transformation; Character, Importance of; Trials; Tests]
Heb. 12:5–7; 1 Peter 1:6–7
A NUMBER of years ago, our kitchen was remodeled. The remodeler came in and showed us some great plans. He showed us pictures of what the new cabinets would look like, samples of our options for wallpaper, and color cards with choices for paint. It was a glorious sight to see what our new kitchen was going to look like on paper. In fact, there was so much excitement and anticipation about the new kitchen, we forgot about the process. To get that kitchen remodeled, stuff had to be torn down and torn up. Things got so bad in our house, that at one point, we had to move in with our daughter to get away from all of the flying dust. The remodeler had to tear up the floor, tear down the cabinets, move out the appliances, and sand down the walls. We had to get out of there. We couldn’t take it! But we wouldn’t have been able to get a new kitchen if the old one wasn’t torn up first.
Many people want God to give them a new life, a new job, or a new situation; but they don’t want Him to touch anything. If I would have told my remodeler that I didn’t want him to touch anything, he would have told me that I didn’t want to remodel. If I wanted new paint, a new floor, or new cabinets, none of that would be possible if the old stuff wasn’t messed up first. We have got to trust God and give Him permission to tear things up so that He can make all things new.58
[Transformation; Character, Importance of; Trials; Tests; Surrender, Benefits of]
WE HAVE recycling bins in our church. They take paper, bottles, and cans. They are designed to give them new life. These materials are taken to recycling centers where fire is used to break down the core components of the paper, or the glass, or the aluminum in order to reshape them into something brand-new. But the materials can’t be reshaped until they are put under enough heat that they can be stripped of all the external and only the inner essence it left. Then the materials can be remade. God wants to recycle us. He’ll keep us in the fire as long as it takes to strip us.59
[Transformation; Character, Importance of; Trials; Test]
Ps. 66:10; Isa. 48:10
ALL OF you have bought concentrated juices that are packed in the can. That juice will go a long way. In order for it to go a long way, you have got to break the seal. A breaking must occur to get the juice.
Most of us have used cologne or perfume. In order to get that fragrance out of that bottle, you have to break open the top. No matter how much you try to pour it out, if you do not crack open the top, all of the fragrance will stay inside and will not benefit your body.
Guess what? When you come to Christ, the Scripture says that you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. But if you want your soul to benefit from it, a cracking must occur.60
[Transformation; Character, Importance of; Trials; Test]
Eph. 1:13–14
WHEN WE were kids, many of us had a piggy bank that had a little slot in the top for us to drop change into. There was only one way to get that money out of the piggy bank back then, when it wasn’t sophisticated. You had to flip it over and shake it. If I wanted a lot of change, I had to do a lot of shaking. Why? Because there was something of value on the inside that I needed to come out on the outside. The only way to get it from the inside to the outside was to shake it loose. God’s given us a great treasure in our earthen vessels, but there’s so much callousness, hardness, independence, and self-sufficiency on the outside, that it keeps the beauty of Christ trapped on the inside. What God’s got to do is to shake us up until He can get out of us what He knows is in there.61
[Transformation; Character, Importance of; Trials; Tests; Spiritual Maturity]
2 Cor. 4:7