The Power of Brokenness

For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh. —Philippians 3:3

Moses knew the power of brokenness. After forty years in the palace where he was part of the royal court, it took forty more years in the desert to strip him of all his natural assets—giftedness, con¬tacts, position, reputation. Moses lost it all. But he emerged at the burning bush a broken man, usable in the hands of God.

When the children of Israel arrived at Mount Horeb and found no drinking water, Moses got another lesson in brokenness (Ex. 17). “Strike the rock,” God said, “and water will come out.” Anybody knows you don’t get water out of a rock. But obediently, Moses struck the rock—a picture of Christ being smitten, broken for us—and water came gushing out to quench the thirst of two million thirsty Israelites in the desert.

Yes, God uses people who are broken. In a sense, revival is really nothing more than the release of God’s Spirit flowing through broken lives.