Your Breaking Has Purpose
While driving to work one day a tire came off a vehicle and crossed several lanes hitting the car my husband was driving. The runaway tire hit the vehicle on the driver’s side of the car. Riding with the window down and his left arm on the door, the tire made contact with his arm severing the left elbow. At first sight, the prognosis was to cut the arm off beneath the elbow. It was physically detached and appeared it could not be saved. A metal screw was placed in the elbow to attach the broken places together. As a result, he has use of that arm today. Everything that is broken or shattered, does not mean that it cannot be fixed. Though the process may not be pleasant and can be uncomfortable, it does not mean that purpose can’t still come from the breaking.
When God breaks us, we may not like it or enjoy it even. The pain of it can sometimes feel unbearable. Our being broken to conform comes with an intended purpose! He transforms those broken, sinful behaviors in our lives into something useful that brings Him glory. He cleans us up like none other. He clothes us in His righteousness and brings clarity and focus into our lives. Oftentimes we don’t see or understand that the breaking is giving way to the new, to receive the fullness of what He has for us.
In researching the butterfly, it is said, the caterpillar dissolves into a soup-like substance using enzymes triggered by hormones. Its tissues, limbs, organs and imaginal discs then begin changing. The discs move to their correct positions, and the caterpillar starts taking on the new shape as a butterfly. It breaks away from the cocoon with its intended purpose.
When a wild horse is being broken there are a series of steps that need to happen before the horse is safe to ride. The trainer’s job is to break the horse in. The horse needs to get familiar with the feel of the ground, the rider/trainer, the transfer of signals, the saddling up, the ride and proof of being broken by riding out. When the horse is unbroken it is not ready to ride. When the horse is broken in, it will learn to follow commands and is ready to lead out.
All of us stand in need of God’s grace. Even the creatures of earth experience a breaking in some way. There is good that comes from the breaking!!
Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)
Prayer: Father we are being molded and shaped by your hands. Our lives are not our own. Our lives are the work of your hands. Break us and shape us, mold us and make us however you will to live life purposeful. Amen
