Have you ever been broken? Have you truly ever felt like after everything being so meaningful that things have bottomed out? Don't worry you're most definitely not alone. We all go through boom and bust periods in our lives, and anyone can be grateful to God in the great times, but what does it take to be grateful to God in our biggest times of bust? The number one example of someone staying true to God in the hardest of times is Job, he lost everything and still he called out "Glory to God in the highest" he lost his family, his wealth, and then his own health spiraled out of control. Even in those times he praised God. Maybe Job knew something that most people today don't know. I've always wondered if I'd be able to be like Job and while I've been tested to an extent I have had a very cushy life. Last Monday one of my fellow racers shared a video with me. It was a short 6 minute video, it was David Wilkerson speaking. He spoke of anguish, and how there is a tremendous need for it within the church. This is a radical idea that I've never even thought about before. How can anguish be needed? He goes on to give the example of Nehemiah and how God used anguish to build a passion in his heart, Nehemiah was not a priest or anything, he was a working man, he was a praying man. God used the anguish of Jerusalem being destroyed to stir up the passion within Nehemiah. Now i understand that in this example I've kind of done a bad job of explaining. Mainly because I want to put a different example out there something that everyone should be able to understand. Michael Jordan was with out a doubt one of the best basketball players of all time. One of the most common fact about MJ is how he started playing basketball. He originally got cut from his high school basketball team. He wanted so bad to make the team. He had been cut and it broke his heart, he was filled with anguish. He didn't give up though, this caused him to eat sleep and even dream basketball. Later on in life he became one of the best that has ever lived. What do you think would have happened if he didn't get cut in high school? He might have still gone on to do what he ended up doing, or he would have been complacent with where he was at. I can't say for sure but I personally don't believe he would have amounted to what he is if he hadn't have been cut. Being cut from the team broke him, it crushed his spirit and he truly felt anguish with that grew a passion one that is rarely matched in the sports world. A passion that drove him to be the best. Now you can see it a little more clear. Like a phoenix rises from the ashes, true passion can only rise from the ashes of anguish. Feeling broken isn't always a bad thing. God must first break us in order rebuild us into what he needs us to be. So just remember when you hit your low points praise be to God because he is getting ready to rebuild us to be even better then we were before.
31/35
