We all like quick fixes. I know I do. Sometimes a quick fix is a good solution. For example, putting a 50-cent new washer on a leaky faucet. Or buying replacement parts and replacement bulbs. On one occasion I noticed that I had a slow leak on a car tire. I took the car to a garage right away; and the repairman fixed the tire while it was still on the car. Now that’s what I call a quick fix.
But not everything can be fixed in such rapid fashion. Some things require a more methodical process-driven approach to repair and replacement. It seems that character is one of those things. And there truly is no quick fix for changes in character. It requires the same mortar and pestle process that the pharmacist uses to crush and grind a substance.
The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. – 1 Samuel 2:4
I think it was Steve Goodier (http://stevegoodier.blogspot.com/) who wrote the following:
“There is an oxymoron throughout the Bible. It says that brokenness is strength. How can this be? How can brokenness be strength? In order to use men and women to their fullest extent, the Lord has to break His servants so that they might have a new kind of strength that is not human in origin. It is strength in spirit that is born only through brokenness.
“Paul was broken on the Damascus road. Peter was broken after Jesus was taken prisoner. Jacob was broken at Peniel. David was broken after his sin with Bathsheba. The list could go on of those the Lord had to break in different ways before they could be used in the Kingdom.
“When we are broken, we see the frailty of human strength and come to grips with the reality that we can do nothing in our own strength. Then, new strength emerges that God uses mightily. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
“Do not fear brokenness. For it may be the missing ingredient to a life that emerges with a new kind of strength and experience not known before. Pray for a broken and contrite heart that God can bless.“
This is my prayer for 2013. Will you join me in the mortar?
