Brokenness - The Purpose

“Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. So Moses said, ‘I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.’ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’”
Exodus 3:1-4

God uses the vexing route of brokenness to merge us into His fullness. Moses would have never seen the miracles of the Red Sea and the wilderness unless he had been weaned from the self-sufficiency of his youth. David would have never known the intimacy and care of God if he had instantly stepped into the royal palace following his victory over Goliath. Joseph could never have grasped the magnificent sovereignty of God in feeding the nations if his brothers had not sold him into forced slavery.

God does not lack great and mighty things to show us. He waits on humble, hungry men and women who have admitted their inadequacy and have no other hope but Himself. He achieves that transformation by striking at the root of self-sufficiency - pride.

Pride gets in God’s way. It expresses itself in some form of manipulation or over-confidence. It seeks to exalt self and cherishes the admiration of others. The riches of God’s storehouse are distributed to the meek of heart, the weak in spirit. The tightly clenched hand of pride cannot receive it. Only brokenness can release the grip.

“God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” -Dwight L. Moody.