The Blessings of Brokenness by Charles F. Stanley

Author:Charles F. Stanley [Charles Stanley ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780310871538
Publisher: Zondervan

Chapter Seven

THE PROCESS OF BREAKING

Being broken is a very systematic process, from God’s point of view. We see only the chaos of brokenness—we feel the pain, confusion, and disorientation. God, however, doesn’t react to life’s circumstances. He is fully aware of what is happening to us even before it happens, and he works within and through circumstances to accomplish his purposes. God never loses control of the breaking process.

The life of the apostle Peter gives us a clear illustration of the principles God uses in breaking a person. Perhaps the most famous scene in Peter’s life happened the night before Jesus was crucified.

Peter followed Jesus after he was seized in the Garden of Gethsemane and taken into the house of the high priest. As Peter sat in the courtyard of the high priest’s house, a servant girl looked closely at Peter and said, “This man was with him.” Peter denied knowing Jesus.

A little later someone else saw him and said, “You are one of them.” Again, Peter denied the association. About an hour later yet another person said, “He was with him.”

Peter replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” At the moment of this third denial, a rooster crowed. Jesus had predicted that Peter would disown him three times before the rooster signaled the dawn of the next day, and it happened just as Jesus said. (See Luke 22:54-62.)

Peter was not a normal fellow. He was very talented and gifted in many ways. The Gospels name Peter many more times than any other apostle. His name is mentioned in numerous places in Acts, as well as in other books in the New Testament. He clearly was a leader among leaders. Along with James and John, he was part of Jesus’ inner circle, one of the men in whom Jesus confided and with whom he shared the most intense and dramatic moments of his life.

Peter was a fisherman, rather impulsive, strong-willed, outspoken, and strong physically. The phrase “self-centered” was written all over him.

You may wonder why Jesus would choose a fellow like Peter.

Jesus chose Peter for the same reason God chooses you and me—he sees all we can be. He chooses us for our potential to become like Christ. Jesus chose Peter because he believed he had found a man through whom he could work. He had a special purpose for Peter’s life, and he poured himself into Peter to prepare him for the supernatural ministry God had for him. Like all of us, Peter had areas of his life that needed to be broken so that they might be refashioned and remade. Jesus was willing to engage in that process in Peter’s life. In fact, he said to Peter, “I’m going to change your name.” In changing Peter’s name, Jesus broke the identity of the old Simon—his name at the time Jesus called him to be an apostle—and created a new identity. Simon the reed was in the process of becoming Peter the rock.

The following four key aspects in God’s breaking process are applicable not only to Peter’s life, but to your life and mine.

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