Brokenness

It is the broken vessel of water that allows anyone to come and drink.

Jesus was broken on the cross. He lived his suffering an death not as an evil to avoid at all costs but as a mission to embrace.

We too are broken. We live with broken bodies, broken hearts, broken minds, or broken spirits. We suffer from broken relationships.

How can we live our brokenness? Jesus invites us to embrace our brokenness as he embraced the cross and live it as a part of our mission. He asks us not to reject our brokenness as a curse from God that reminds us of our sinfulness but to accept it and put it under God's blessing for our purification and sanctification.

Thus, our brokenness can become a gateway to new life.

-Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey


"Father, break me
Take me through the fire
Oh, Father hold me, mold me
Just as You desire.
I am just a cup to overflow Your will
But first I must be emptied to be filled."

-John Michael Talbot

Fear v. Faith

"Jesus came to us to help us overcome our fear of God. As long as we are afraid of God, we cannot love God. Love means intimacy, closeness, mutual vulnerability, and a deep sense of safety. But all those are impossible as long as there is fear. Fear creates suspicion, distance, defensiveness and insecurity."
-Henri Nouwen

Jesus lived a life without fear. He was able to live without fear because he had full trust in his Father's love and power. He knew of God's ultimate compassion for all in need. And he knew of God's great power to do all things. But Jesus also had one other act of faith-- He was completely confident in His relationship with God. That God would listen to him and accomplish that which he asked.

It is interesting that Jesus only got upset with the disciples when they surrendered to fear instead of faith. And when they lived in fear, Jesus said that the answer to their fear was faith in God's power, God's love and God's desire to intimately relate to us.