“We Can Rebuild Him…”
“By our baptism, then, we were buried with him and shared his death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from death by the glorious power of the Father, so also we might live a new life.”
Romans 6:4 GNT
As a kid, I loved watching The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man. These mechanically-enhanced humans had super strength, super speed, and other really cool powers. But, as the introduction to The Six Million Dollar Man shows us, these enhancements came only after extreme brokenness. Steve Austin, the main character, was an astronaut. He didn’t have any plans to become the first “bionic man.” But sometimes our plans don’t work out. Sometimes tragedy strikes and we’re left broken and asking why. But as we may discover, the tragedy may lead to an amazing new life.
“Sometimes when we experience trials, we may erroneously believe that God has rejected us or is punishing us in some way. However, one of the ways the Lord helps us become His disciples is through the process of brokenness. Brokenness is God’s method for dealing with our dependence on anything other than Him for fulfillment and security.”
Charles F. Stanley, God’s Purpose for Your Life
In theory, we understand that God’s way is best and we should submit ourselves to Him. However, in practice that is sometimes hard to do, especially when everything is going fine in our lives. We feel good, we love our jobs, everything’s great at home, we go to church on Sunday, and we’re basically satisfied . . . so what do we really need God for? I mean, we’ve got this, right? If you start to think that, watch out! Things are about to get ugly. If we aren’t putting God first, He knows how to get our attention.
“How far do you want God to go in getting your attention? If God has to choose between your eternal safety and your earthly comfort, which do you hope he chooses? What if he moved you to another land (As he did Abraham.) What if he called you out of retirement? (Remember Moses?) How about the voice of an angel or the bowel of a fish? (A la Gideon and Jonah.) How about a promotion like Daniel’s or a demotion like Samson’s? God does what it takes to get our attention. Isn’t that the message of the Bible?”
Max Lucado, Grace for the Moment
No matter how much we think we’re depending on God, we still have our human will trying to take over. We think we can handle everything on our own. We think our way is best. We have our own plans and dreams that have nothing to do with what God wants for us. We say we want to follow God and trust Him every day, but until our human will is crushed, we will never really be able to do so. We will never be able to tap into His power living inside us, waiting to be unleashed for His glory, until we are completely and utterly dependent on Him. And usually, this can only happen after we have been broken. God never intended us to live as Christians by our own power. It’s when we finally reach the point that we cry out to Him in anguish, “God, I can’t do this on my own!” that He responds, “Good. Now I can use you. I will rebuild you and give you all the strength and power you will need to do my work.”
“Brokenness is God’s requirement for maximum usefulness. It’s through brokenness that you stop depending on yourself and start looking to Him for your strength, wisdom, and power.”
Charles F. Stanley, 30 Life Principles
“Do you long to live in the Spirit’s present-tense power? Do you want to know the indwelling life of Christ as your reality instead of an empty theology? Do you want Jesus to fill you with Himself? Do you want the living Lord to be someone you know, not just someone you believe in? Then embrace brokenness. . . . Brokenness is the ground from which spiritual power grows.”
Jennifer Kennedy Dean, He Restores My Soul
Jennifer Kennedy Dean, in her book He Restores My Soul, encourages us to welcome and embrace brokenness. We must let our human sinful nature die in order to release the power of God’s Spirit living inside of us. We must be willing to turn over every part of ourselves and our lives to Him. Every thought, every action, every desire, everything we own, and everything we are must be submitted to Christ. Only in this way, only when we are living in God’s will, can we tap into the super-human power living inside of us.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
Matthew 6:10 ESV
Charles F. Stanley reminds us that the Holy Spirit will continue to work on us until we can pray “Your will be done” and really mean it. The secret to obtaining God’s supernatural power for our lives is to live our lives for Him. He will break us down until we are ready to trust Him to build us back up in His image. This has been true in my life. A couple years ago, I described myself as broken. I had no more of my own power or strength left. I had no idea what to do or even what to hope for. Desperate, I turned to God, and prayed, “God, I will do anything You want me to do. I will go anywhere You want me to go. Just tell me what to do.” I turned my life over to Him — in practice, not just in theory — and He got to work right away transforming me into the supernaturally-powered human He wants me to be. The breaking process was painful and it was scary, but it was necessary to get me to this place.
“God’s desire is to mold and refine you so He can work through you. And the challenges in your life have been given because the Holy Spirit understands what it takes to bring you into submission in a way that ultimately builds you up. His goal is to set you free to be who He created you to be — with His wisdom, power, energy, joy, enthusiasm, and vision.”
Charles F. Stanley, God’s Purpose for Your Life
This week’s Scripture passages focus on strength and power. May they remind us that when we feel broken down and all our strength is gone, we shouldn’t resist God but embrace the transformation. Isaiah 40:29 (NIV) promises us: “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” When we turn our broken lives over to Him, He will rebuild us, stronger and better than before. He will lead us into the amazing new life He has planned for us!
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
Ephesians 6:10 NIV
References:
- Dean, Jennifer Kennedy. He Restores My Soul: A Forty-Day Journey Toward Personal Renewal. B&H Publishing Group, 1999.
- Lucado, Max. Grace for the Moment: Inspirational Thoughts for Each Day of the Year. J. Countryman, 2000.
- “The Six Million Dollar Man – Intro (1973).” YouTube, uploaded by Potentium, 4 March 2021, https://youtu.be/cRgqouS1O6E.
- Stanley, Charles F. 30 Life Principles Study Guide: A Study for Growing in Knowledge and Understanding of God. Thomas Nelson, 2008.
- Stanley, Charles F. God’s Purpose for Your Life: 365 Devotions. Thomas Nelson, 2020.
Images:
- Cyborg Featured image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
- Robot Butterfly image by kalhh from Pixabay
- Faith Strength image by Gordon Johnson from Pixabay
About The Author
Christa
My vision for Wondertakings was to create a devotional blog for "nerdy" Christians like me. I do believe, as Socrates said, that wisdom begins in wonder. So I love to read or watch anything that inspires wonder and figure out what I can learn from it. I view it all through a Christian lens. I believe that God can and does speak through many sources in many ways, even if those speaking are not aware of it. I am not an expert in theology or religious studies. My goal with this blog is simply to share what I've learned as a fellow student and sinner in the Christian walk. My hope and my prayer is that by doing so I may be able to help someone else. In Deuteronomy 5:33 (NLT), we are told: "Stay on the path that the Lord your God has commanded you to follow. Then you will live long and prosperous lives. . . ." So in the words of Moses (and Spock), live long and prosper, my friends!