Broken Things

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever. Vance Havner

When I read this quote I started thinking about how true it is in our daily life. We are a broken people living in a broken world.  When I think of Peter denying Christ three times it breaks my heart.  Peter loved Jesus but he was weak like us.  When push came to shove he denied Him. 

The thing is, we do this every day in our own lives. When we don’t stand up for our Savior we are just like Peter who denied Him over and over again.  One of the hardest things for me is to go against public opinion.  I am a people pleaser by nature and in the past I always wanted people to like me.  The problem is when you stand for Christ there are going to be a lot of people who won’t like what you have to say or appreciate what you believe. 

I read another quote by Vance Havner that put it in perspective for me. “A preacher should have the mind of a scholar, the heart of a child and the hide of a rhinoceros. His biggest problem is how to toughen his hide without hardening his heart.” If we are take a stand for God, we will need all the ammunition we can get and tough hides.  It will mean standing up for unpopular opinions and bucking the system.  People will dislike you, ridicule you and talk about you. 

I like to think of it like a race.  When you think you can’t take another step you do it anyway.  Once you take that step you figure out that you survived it, so you take another and another.  We aren’t sprinting to the finish line.  Our life on earth is one long race and it can be the difference in a race well run or the opposite and that would be a race never run.

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am broken.  What I do know is that if I place my trust in You and continue, You are there to guide and direct my steps even in the midst of my brokenness.  Without You I am nothing and will get nowhere.  When Jesus died on the cross, it gave me the opportunity to run the race of a lifetime.  Keep me focused on You and remind me to give all the glory to You.  

    

Scripture: Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:

‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’

 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

 Peter answered and said to Him, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”

Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.”

Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

And so said all the disciples.  Matthew 26:31-35