The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me...to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning...that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:1,3 KJV
George Sweeting says, “An ordinary bar of steel costs only a few dollars. If it is hammered into horeshoes, its price doubles. Made into needles, its value escalates a hundred times. Fashioned into springs for fine watches, its worth becomes incalculable.”
Sometimes God allows the breaking that eventually produces something of great value, having been in the fire, having sustained the blows of life, having grown strong in the broken places.
Who said that life is fair? Who are we to determine if life is just or equitable?
When Jacob feared for his life as his brother Esau and some 400 armed men approached him, he turned to the Lord. That encounter was characterized by his struggle with the Angel of the Lord. From that point on, he walked with a limp – the sign of his broken body and spirit, but God gave him a new name, Israel, and used him to birth a nation.
Remember that following the brokenness of an imperfect world, God gives strength in the broken place. He’s still in the business of healing, sustaining, and remaking.
Nothing that life throws at you can carry you beyond His grace and care. God doesn’t fix everything, but He gives grace for everything, and that makes the difference that produces strength in the broken place.
When trouble knocks on your door, don’t waste the suffering. Allow God to demonstrate that at the point of your pain and helplessness comes His healing strength and sustaining presence that allows the broken place to become stronger.
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside, I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases.