“The deepest level of worship is praising God inspire of pain, trusting him during a trial, surrendering while suffering, and loving him when he seems distant.” – Rick Warren
There’s beauty in brokenness… an odd statement right?? Seems like a contradiction. Brokenness?? Gross that sounds terrible… being uncomfortable?? Having to struggle… and be okay with it?? Nothing about that sounds enjoyable or beneficial!! This was my view before I came onto The World Race, before God truly took me out of my comfort zone and stripped away every comfort I held onto in order to “be okay” and share a friendly smile with people I come in contact with everyday. In order to have that conversation no one really wants to have, where each person asks how the other is doing and they each give the same answer of “Oh life is great!!” And proceed to tell about how awesome their life is and all the great things that are happening, (Which it most definitely is not a bad thing to talk about that) but the conversation seems to lack depth and REALNESS. This is sometimes how I fear people, myself included, can be with God when praying to him. We talk to God as if we can’t truly let him know how we feel about things or admit when we’re struggling and feeling broken, empty and disconnected. He already knows how you feel on the inside, as well as what you’re going through. Why not just be real with him and let him take control of the situation?? We all struggle, we’re all broken on the inside to a certain extent. Though it may seem disheartening, take joy in these moments!! These are the moments God is able to intercede in our lives most.
“Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself.” -John 15:4
The first time I heard the quote that will forever reign true and ring through my ears, “There’s beauty in brokenness” was month one in a letter my dad wrote me. My dad is always one to know exactly what to say to encourage me in my faith. Ever since I read those wise words they have been a theme this entire race thus far for me. While being on the race God has done things I can’t even describe with altering where I find comfort in my life and brought to light a lot of struggles I didn’t even know were existing in my life. He forced me to literally have nothing else to take comfort in but just simply being in his presence, knowing he is with me and talking to him about literally anything and everything. The things I’m beyond thankful for and ecstatic about, the things I can’t help but jump around and share an ear to ear smile about. Along with just being real with God with where I’m at, if I’m feeling distant from him, if I’m upset about a situation, or if I’m just feeling like quitting. These past three months I have been feeling especially broken. At times I want to just give up and crawl into a deep dark cave, but if I learned anything from Lord of The Rings it’s that you come out of that cave in a loin cloth looking like a hairless rat. In these times when I feel like that, this quote my dad unknowingly cemented into my brain becomes most true and evident. All I have is God, nothing else I can run to to comfort me besides the occasional McDonald’s triple cheeseburger meal. It’s in those moments, the moments I lay before him, naked, afraid and completely broken, when he is able to come into my life and completely make an example of just how powerful he is and completely intercede in my life, show me his plan, and I’m able to grow deeper in a relationship with him through trusting him. These moments, strangely enough, I love. There’s beauty in brokenness. Allow God to strip away all your comforts so you can be truly broken before him and rely solely on the fact that he WILL pick you up, brush off your shoulders and give you a big hug. It’s all about having faith that he’ll come through.
“You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:13
If you struggle with this, like I still sometimes do, here are a few questions I had to ask about my own life to understand myself more:
1. When you’re hurting, where do you run first?
2. When you’re alone, who do you miss the most?
3. What are you connected to right now that could be disconnecting you from God?
4. When you need wisdom, where do you find it?
5. Do you feel your relationship with God is artificial or authentic?
6. Have you prayed and asked God to become real to you and to fill those empty places meant just for Him?
Prayer requests:
1. That my team and I wake up every morning with a zeal to listen for what God has each and every day for us, that whoever we come in contact with we would be a light. (Kind of a two in one there)
2. That God would continue to break me and strip away everything I’m holding onto that is keeping me from growing in my relationship with him.
3. That I would have the strength and faith in knowing God will carry me through it all.
Thank you all so much!! 🙂 I love each and every one of you!! 🙂 If there’s anything I can pray for for you Facebook message me or email me at [email protected]
