I might be learning..

So I spent alot of time at the end of the year reading about, thinking about, exploring, talking about, and trying to learn about brokenness

So now that Im in Thailand and not trying to seek any understanding of brokenness I may have stumbled across a little bit.

If you were one of the many I asked to explain it to me then you know I get caught on words. I want exact definitions, I like literal interpretation(probably because straight forward is easier) So thats probably my biggest pitfall yet is also important because words have such real meaning

But anyways sooo I think I might be learning that I easily get confused with the difference between brokenness and well brokenness

I think its easy to think of brokenness in terms of being a reflection of or a response to painful stuff in our life .
But God uses Isaiah to speak of Brokenness in a different way I think...

" A Message from the high and towering God, who lives in Eternity, whose name is Holy:"I live in the high and holy places, but also with the low-spirited, the spirit-crushed,And what I do is put new spirit in them, get them up and on their feet again.For I'm not going to haul people into court endlessly, I'm not going to be angry forever.Otherwise, people would lose heart. These souls I created would tire out and give up.I was angry, good and angry, because of Israel's sins. I struck him hard and turned away in anger, while he kept at his stubborn, willful ways.When I looked again and saw what he was doing, I decided to heal him, lead him, and comfort him, creating a new language of praise for the mourners.Peace to the far-off, peace to the near-at-hand," says God— "and yes, I will heal them.But the wicked are storm-battered seas that can't quiet down. The waves stir up garbage and mud.There's no peace," God says, "for the wicked." " Isaiah 57:15-21

I think im learning that spiritual brokenness is a reflection of life given to humility, a contrite spirit, and an understanding that we are like cattle and oxen.. we are like brute beast before God unless we allow Him to break us.

Real brokenness is the comes with the acknowledgment that you are no longer your own; you have been bought with a price. when you yield yourself to God to be broken and formed into the image of Christ.
See how this plays out in the life of the prideful man who experiences true brokenness:

"All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Just twelve months later, he was walking on the balcony of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted, "Look at this, Babylon the great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequate to display my honor and glory!"
The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a voice out of heaven spoke, "This is the verdict on you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your kingdom is taken from you. You will be driven out of human company and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like an ox. The sentence is for seven seasons, enough time to learn that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts whomever he wishes in charge."
It happened at once. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human company, ate grass like an ox, and was soaked in heaven's dew. His hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a hawk.
"At the end of the seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was given my mind back and I blessed the High God, thanking and glorifying God, who lives forever:
"His sovereign rule lasts and lasts, his kingdom never declines and falls.Life on this earth doesn't add up to much, but God's heavenly army keeps everything going.No one can interrupt his work, no one can call his rule into question.
"At the same time that I was given back my mind, I was also given back my majesty and splendor, making my kingdom shine. All the leaders and important people came looking for me. I was reestablished as king in my kingdom and became greater than ever. And that's why I'm singing—I, Nebuchadnezzar—singing and praising the King of Heaven:
"Everything he does is right, and he does it the right way.He knows how to turn a proud person into a humble man or woman." "
Daniel 4:28-37

dude in this Ned is broken by God. His pride, his position, his self-worship... it's all broken And its replaced by praise to God for being broken by Him.



Thats totally different from Brokenness as a reflection of the bad stuff. That is not brokenness because of being broken by God, but because of dwelling in the pain of circumstances. This is not to say that God does not use circumstance to break prideful people, but sometimes maybe even often those of us who revel in our pain exhibit a pride in displaying just how broken we are! No one has been as hurt as badly as us. No one has endured the tragedies we have endured. In short, we create for ourselves an immunity to the very brokenness God desires to instill in us so long as we make an idol of our pain. To sustain the immunity we must always talk about it, wear it as a badge of honor, and retreat into it whenever anyone questions the need to dwell in the pain. Worse still, we use it to lessen guilt before the Lord. We refuse true brokenness and hold instead to the mire of our own making.
But thats not God's brokenness, its a fake that leads us away from real healing and growth in Christ. Dying to self means abandoning even our pain, no matter how great, to take on the image of the Savior. Only then can the scales drop from our eyes and we be raised up to stand in true brokenness before God.