God Breaks The Person He Wants To Use
Pastor Leslie Chua
“But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies.”
God breaks the person He wants to use. It is a pattern that runs throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. The path to impactful service runs through a period of profound humbling and suffering. It is a fundamental divine principle.
While breaking sounds harsh, God’s intent is obviously not to destroy the person. On the contrary, it is meant to prepare him to undertake an assignment in the future that God has planned for him.
The breaking process strips the person of his pride, ego, and self-reliance. It dismantles the self and cultivates sole dependency on God. It humbles, refines, and reshapes the person to become a vessel fit for a greater purpose.
Every great man of God in the Bible and throughout history was put through this same divine process without exception.
Abraham was given a son miraculously in his old age. After that, God asked him to surrender – sacrifice - Isaac to Him.
Joseph was given dreams that foretold his great future. In the next decade, he was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, and unjustly imprisoned.
Moses went from being a prince in the Egyptian palace to shepherding in the desert wilderness for the next 40 years.
David became a national hero after defeating Goliath. Shortly after, he was on the run from King Saul for about 13 years.
The same pattern kept repeating – calling, breaking, and commissioning after they had passed their tests.
Abraham became the father of faith. Joseph rose to be the Prime Minister of Egypt. Moses confronted Pharaoh and led Israel out of Egypt. David became king over all Israel.
God works in this way with the heroes in the Bible. He also works in the same way in our lives.
Why does God break the person He wants to use? What does breaking achieve in the lives of believers? What is the purpose
Character Formation
To form character. God breaks us to form our character.
While natural talents and spiritual giftings are given by God, character is formed. God shapes and moulds us through life experiences, most effectively when we are going through trials, afflictions, and sufferings.
Just as steel is tempered at high temperatures and clay is moulded on a spinning wheel, our character is toughened and shaped during times of adversity.
Pride is the biggest disqualifier for divine service. The adage that pride goes before a fall is true, and it is biblical. God cannot use a proud person. He will cause problems. Sooner or later, he will fall. Lucifer is a good example.
Proud people seek their own glory. But God will not share His glory with anyone. The refining fire of suffering removes the dross of ego and pride, producing a humble servant who understands that he is merely an instrument in the hand of God. All success is to be attributed to God and all accolades to be diverted to Him. The spotlight falls squarely on God. We take no credit for ourselves.
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While natural talents and spiritual giftings are given by God, character is formed. God shapes and moulds us through life experiences, most effectively when we are going through trials, afflictions, and sufferings.
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Joseph, in his teenage years, was confident and cocky. When God gave him 2 dreams revealing his lofty destiny, he boasted to his brothers most irritatingly.
God could not use him if he remained unchanged. God had to break his arrogance and self-conceit. He did.
Joseph’s brothers hated him. They sold him into slavery in Egypt. Then, he was falsely accused of attempted rape and imprisoned.
Rejection. Betrayal. False accusation. Unjust treatment. God worked on Joseph’s character in the anvil of repeated afflictions. The young man was broken again and again.
God broke Joseph’s pride but not his spirit. He did not complain or grumble. He maintained an excellent attitude throughout his decade-long ordeal.
When the breaking process had completed, God brought Joseph out of the dungeon and straight into the highest echelon in the Egyptian court. He was promoted overnight. Pharaoh appointed him as the second in command in the whole of Egypt.
The breaking process tested Joseph’s integrity and formed his character, preparing him for rulership. It was a heavy responsibility, but by then, God could trust him with both position and power.
Dependency
To cultivate dependency. God breaks us to cultivate our dependency on Him.
The human inclination is self-dependency and self-sufficiency. In our ministry and work, we instinctively lean on our own intelligence, strength, talents, skills, confidence, connections, and even past successes, not realising our limitations. This is the unbroken vessel, a receptacle full of its own strength.
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When we come to the end of ourselves, we look to Him. The objective of the breaking process is to shift our dependency from self to Him. Before the breaking experience, our posture is “I can do this for God.” Afterwards, it is “I can do nothing apart from God.”
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During the breaking process, God empties the vessel. He allows adverse circumstances – rejection, betrayal, sickness, crisis, broken relationship, pain, humiliation – to expose the limits of our own strengths and abilities.
When we come to the end of ourselves, we look to Him. The objective of the breaking process is to shift our dependency from self to Him. Before the breaking experience, our posture is “I can do this for God.” Afterwards, it is “I can do nothing apart from God.”
We learn to depend on God. Not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit of God (Zechariah 4:6). This is the lesson.
Jacob learned it the hard way. It took him 20 years of repeated failures to finally surrender to God, trusting Him instead of scheming and plotting to be blessed.
It took Moses even longer, 40 years living in anonymity and insignificance in the backside of the desert wilderness, before he was ready for his divine assignment. By then, he had lost his vigour and his zeal to liberate the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. But that was when God could use Him, when he was emptied of himself, and he was completely dependent on God.
It is the same for the apostle Peter, who boasted of his unyielding loyalty to Jesus but ended up denying the Lord 3 times within a few hours.
It is also the same for the intellectually brilliant and spiritually anointed apostle Paul, who was also the most successful church planter. God gave him a “thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan” to keep him level-headed and constantly dependent on God (2 Corinthians 12:7).
Jesus said these words in response to his appeal for deliverance – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9 – ESV). The Lord wanted Paul to be completely dependent on Him at all times.
Becoming Like Jesus
To be like Jesus. God breaks us to conform us to the image of Christ.
Paul says – “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies” (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).
This is the paradoxical truth of what adversities and sufferings can produce in us. Under the watchful eyes and supervision of God, afflictions produce the best in us, transforming us to become like Jesus.
We are familiar with biblical metaphors such as these - the fragrance contained in alabaster jars is released only when broken; pure virgin oil is extracted by crushing olives; Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24).
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This is the paradoxical truth of what adversities and sufferings can produce in us. Under the watchful eyes and supervision of God, afflictions produce the best in us, transforming us to become like Jesus.
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Our divine missions and assignments are not merely confined to producing good results. We are the ambassadors of Christ, and so, we are called to bear a good testimony for Christ. After all, we are God’s image-bearers.
A broken person, conformed to Christ, would wield authority without swagger, power without pride, and influence without intoxication.
God can only entrust power and authority to people who are broken. They can be trusted to use their positions and wield their influence responsibly.
God breaks the person He wants to use. He breaks us to form our character, cultivate our dependency on Him, and conform us to His image. It is for His sake as well as for our sake.