Bottom line up front: The Beauty of Brokenness

Introduction: Recently in teaching from Matthew’s Gospel account of Christ, one of the takeaways I labored to bring before the class was the beauty of brokenness. It’s a familiar theme to students of the Word, and I speak on this theme often. It’s not because I’m a one-trick pony; it is because I find that it is a consistent theme of Scripture. God emphasizes it throughout the Bible.

Case study: Even unbelievers may know at least a little something about the Apostle Paul, for example. But before he came to be renamed Paul, he was Saul of Tarsus. He was a brilliant man, a Pharisee, very zealous, but utterly lost spiritually. Here is just one example of how the Apostle Paul understood his spiritual life as divided upon this axis– before God saved him vs. after God saved him:

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.

Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me. (Galatians 1:10-24, ESV)

In plain terms: First, we can say that Paul saw that the default position of the insecure man is to labor to please man. That is, when one’s longing is to gain the approval of man instead of the approval of God, one reveals his true posture and focus of worship. It’s a play for popularity and power rather than a zeal for God or obedience to God. Paul admitted that used to be his method of operation. But God was gracious to Paul, and revealed to him his own insecurity and his own pride.

Second, we can say that God used Paul’s learning to benefit others; he labored in pouring himself out for others, as Christ did for His sheep. Paul labored to teach, preach, and write in such a way as to reach people: “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some,” Paul writes (1 Corinthians 9:22, ESV).

Third, we can say that God received the glory because of the faithfulness of the Apostle Paul. That’s what verse 24 means, that people “glorified God” because of Paul. In other words, faithfulness paid spiritual dividends.

Associated thoughts & observations: Psalm 51:17 reminds us, too, of the beauty of brokenness: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” That will not gain you power and prestige in the eyes of men, but it’s what God blesses. Paul knew it. And the Lord Jesus knew it. He became the sacrifice for His people, you see.

It’s the same principle as you find throughout Scripture. In Jeremiah, for example, will we learn from this verse the beauty of brokenness:

“For after I had turned away, I relented,/and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh;/I was ashamed, and I was confounded,/because I bore the disgrace of my youth” (Jeremiah 31:19, ESV)

Encouragement/takeaway: I cannot speak for the experience of others in today’s world. But I can speak of what God has revealed in Scripture, and it is plain that for those men and women God delights in using, He breaks them. Just ask Job. And Joseph. And Saul the Pharisee>Paul the Apostle. Just ask the Apostle Peter, who suffered some very “rocky’ moments. Just ask Daniel and his three friends. Just ask David, a very fallen man, but the man God used for glorious purposes (eventually, people saw that Saul was a judgment on them for their sin). Just ask the Apostle Matthew. Just ask Doubting Thomas. Just ask Moses. Just look to the Lord Jesus Himself, who was despised and rejected, smitten by God, and afflicted (Isaiah 53: 3-4).

God creates beauty out of brokenness. God redeems, yes, but He does so via the crucible of suffering. Our duty is to trust the Lord, especially when it seems darkest. For even the darkness is overcome by the One who is light Himself.