Tears In A Bottle

I remember standing on the bridge that dark cold night, feeling all alone, with no hope. I'd had a lot to drink and my life was just a mess. I constantly carried guilt from always causing pain in the lives of those who I cared about. I stared at the rippling waves below as the waters rushed past into nothingness, which is how I began seeing my life – just rushing past into nothingness. All the past and present painful memories weighed heavily on my heart. It used to be that when life brought me heart-breaking times, I'd feel a lot better after a good cry, because it was like emptying myself out of all the hurt and disappointments. But this particular night was different. The feeling of being all alone and nobody really knowing how I was truly feeling inside overwhelmed me. I was so tired of the life I was living. How did I get to this place in life? I didn't want to be in that dark place anymore. I knew I needed help. I tossed the bottle of liquor into the waters and dropped to my knees and cried. The tears flooded my face and between sobs, I remember saying, “God, Please Help Me!” I sat in the dark for the longest time, then stood to my feet and walked toward the light at the end of the bridge and headed for home.

In the Bible, reading in Hosea 5:15, The Message Bible said it this way, "When they finally hit rock bottom, maybe they'll come looking for Me." 

That's where I found myself on that dark night. I had hit rock bottom and unknowingly went looking for God. He began doing miraculous things in my life after that. And He showed me that it was rejection that had brought me to that place in my life. I found it amazing how God brought me back to the same bridge, on that dark night in my life; the same bridge I ran to after letting the poison of rejection spread throughout my body at age 15, causing me to question, “What's wrong with me?” and no longer caring about myself, choosing that lifestyle of smoking, drinking, pre-marital sex, to attempt to bury the 'pains of life'. But this last time on the bridge, at age 24, my heart was ready and needed a new life – a new beginning.

The more time I spend in prayer and reading God's Word, I learn so much more and continue to draw closer and closer to Him. He shows me all the time how much He really loves me. You see, God was there on that bridge both nights collecting my tears in a bottle and recording in his book every situation that caused my tears.

Psalm 56:8 "You know my wanderings. You have put my tears into your bottle. Aren't they all in your book? When I cry out to you, my enemies will turn back, this I know, for God is with me.”

I was so wrong that night, thinking that my life and even my tears were rushing past into nothingness. My life was going in the wrong direction then, but I know now that every tear I cry does not just dry up into nothingness. I take great comfort in His Word knowing that He knows all my sorrows and each tear I cry is being “bottled up” by Him and He “takes note” of every reason, every situation that brought me to tears. I am that important to God and SO ARE YOU!!

Some of us have been taught that crying is a sign of weakness but it's actually a sign of strength. Just to name a few in the Bible whose tears brought about powerful results:

Jeremiah, known as the Weeping Prophet, his tears restored the nations, repaired broken covenants and healed people!

David, the writer of Psalm 56:8.9 was a man who killed a bear and a lion with his bare hands! He killed Goliath with just a sling and a stone. The Psalms are full of David's cries to God.

Hannah, with her heart-wrenching tears cried out to the Lord to open her womb and God gave her a child. She gave birth to Samuel, who God used to restore the nation of Israel thus paving the way for the next king, David, a man after God's own heart, who made a way for his son, King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, who made a way for more great kings who made a way to eventually, the Savior of the World. All from a tear!

Jesus, who we would hardly call weak, who endured the cross for humanity, wept. When Jesus wept, Lazarus was raised from the dead.

Tears produce power. Tears produce life. Tears destroy strongholds and set captives free. Tears heal nations and tears heal the brokenhearted.

Psalm 34:18 "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite (crushed) spirit".

One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 30:5 "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Weeping ushers in joy! Your tears pave the way and cause joy and release to come.

"I have heard your prayers and seen your tears", says the Lord in 2 Kings 20:5.   God has such compassion that tears cause Him to get up from His Mighty Throne and move mountains for you! Why? Because He loves you and He is moved by your tears.

Take comfort in knowing that every time you are going through something so heart-breaking that brings you to tears and you think that no one understands, God does! He knows exactly what you are feeling and sees every tear you cry and has a bottle in heaven where He collects them and writes it in His book where He always remembers. And I believe that God uses all those tears in that bottle to provide a "river of healing" for us to swim in because the Bible says that He works all things for our good and He will also restore every broken place in our life. You are precious to Him and He cares what you're going through and will be there to help you through it.

Connie J. Schmoll

If you are viewing this through email, visit http://waitingatthewindow.blogspot.com to listen to the video and song, "You Needed Me" by Anne Murray

The Treasure In Your Trial

I Peter 4:12,13 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Wow! I don't know where to begin on this one but I just want to share my heart with you today. As some knew, I had a health situation diagnosed about 4 years ago that demanded surgery. I decided not to have it because I wanted to be such a great woman of faith and stand on God's Word believing Him for complete healing. A few years went by, and I still believed yet my situation did not seem to get better. But I was at the point where I felt if I changed my decision that it would be like going backward with God instead of going to another level of faith which is what I desired. But did you know that it takes an even greater amount of faith to put your life into the hands of people? I mean...think about it. We already know Nothing is Impossible With God and we already know that He is a Healer so we already have the faith to believe. The greater faith is to choose to Trust in God while placing your life into another person's hands knowing God will be there through it all.

Okay, let me go on. I've had the surgery which I must say has been the most painful thing I have ever experienced in my life thus far and personally I still do not see it's purpose knowing that God could have just simply healed me. My thoughts were, “Why would a Father choose this painful experience over an instantaneous healing? What kind of Father would want their child to have to go through such excruciating pain?” Sad to say, I was disappointed...in God for not giving the instantaneous healing and in me, because I felt I was not that great woman of faith after all.

But then...God began to show me the Treasures in My Trial.

When we look at our trial unfolding in front of us, it feels terrible and we tend to think that things will never get better. It gets very overwhelming. But then after the trial is over, that is when we are able to see God's purpose behind the trial.

A man wrote once that his definition for hope was: physically, you're in front of your trial, but spiritually you are looking back at it – after it's over, when all is well and when you have overcome.

In other words, Hope is taking on God's perspective. You look at your trial the way God looks at it. If you are on my subscription list and get my writings through email, you just recently read my devotional titled, A Divine Perspective. We need to see things from God's view.

If you are in a trial now, I want you to have hope. Your storm will pass. Your pain will disappear. Your situation will be turned around for the good. And your trial will turn into a triumph because if you look hard enough, you will always find the treasure in your trial.

The Treasures in My Trial

Our trials can be such ugly things yet beautiful treasures can be found:

Comfort: God is always there to comfort you in your trial, no matter how you are feeling about Him OR your situation at that time. It's His Promise and He never breaks a promise. God has shown me comfort through friends who have been with me through this time which I am grateful but feel sad because I have not been there for them as I should be. God gave me a wonderful Doctor who I felt very comfortable with the minute I met her. I am thankful to her and her medical team. This has helped me gain a trust for doctors that I did not have which I think was because of things my mom went through before she passed. But I remember when they were taking me in for surgery, I asked, “You all believe in God, don't you?” One girl says “Absolutely!” And went on to say she was a Christian. The young man stated that his gifts in the medical field were given to him from God. So my last words I remember saying was, “Okay then, we're all set!”

I had a friend visit me after surgery who was a great comfort to me. He reminded that no matter what we go through, decisions we make that may be the right ones or the wrong ones, that as long as we have that assurance that God loves us, we have everything we need and everything is going to be okay. God will always love us. His love will never change. And that in it self gives me the peace of mind that I need. (Thanks Kyle)

And I am truly blessed and comforted just knowing I have a husband and a son who is there for me when I need them. Even though there are times that I have failed to be what I should be for my family, they have never once failed me. I am forever grateful!

I'm truly rich because of my family, friends and medical staff who were there for me.

Character: I've met some wonderful people who have come through some tragic things and I'm sure you have too and we wonder how they are still going, but instead they are a much stronger person. My mother went through so much and I used to see her as weak but now, to me she was one of the strongest ladies I know to endure all that she did in her life and still always be the happy person she was around her friends and family and even strangers.

I believe that trials have a way of making us grow in the most important part of who we are – our character.

Compassion: This one is important because a trial may give birth to a ministry

The Bible says, Blessed be...the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them who are in any trouble, by the comfort that we ourselves are comforted by God. (I Corinthians 1:3-4)

During your trial, God reaches out to you, touches you and heals you in many ways you can't imagine at the time. And your joy even returns. This third treasure in your trial is a deeper compassion for people who are going through the same pain you went through.

If you are going through a hard trial now, just remember that one day, your problem in your life will be solved. Every sickness will be healed and every tear will be dried up. So discover your treasure in your trial. If you have not found it yet, be watching for it because it will be there just waiting to be discovered by you.

I Peter 1:7-8 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

 So...yes, I most definitely experienced much COMFORT from God, friends, family and strangers.  No, I do not yet know God's Purpose for this trial, but I know He is already working on my CHARACTER through it all.  I have chosen to apply Proverbs 3:5.6 to my daily life. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  Is there a ministry being birthed through this trial?  I believe so because I most definitely have developed a deeper COMPASSION and can relate to others who go through similar pain and I can't wait to see what God has planned for me.

When things do not happen the way  you wanted them to, always continue to put your Trust in God in the situation. There will be many things you don't understand but you can't lean on your own understanding, and no matter what happens, no matter the results, just acknowledge God in them with the assurance that He took care of it the way it should have and he will continue to guide you.

Be blessed,

Connie

A Divine Perspective

God has a reason for everything that happens in our life.  Instead of us getting all upset when trials come our way, we need to seek God and continue to stand on His Word.  I used to let my emotions rule much of my life and ended up making wrong decisions, but now I continue to stand on God's Word no matter the circumstance.  Now I look to God and strive to see things from His perspective.

No one escapes the storms of life.  However, if we choose to take advantage of our personal storms, believing God through them, we will rise in faith above the world's darkest storms.  We are made aware that each storm brings promotion and each storm has its reward.  We learn to rest and soar on the winds of His Presence and relax our faith as we let Him carry us to a warmer place.

True freedom comes from the inside out.  I remember always wondering why God would allow certain things to happen and why he chose not to stop them or change them.  But then I realized that just because there were many trials, this did not mean that God was not working in my life.  I realized that the Spirit of God was continually guiding me and always pulling me into a closer relationship with Him.  When I did go through things, God always turned it around for the good by teaching me something.  I realized that my wrong reactions to situations were based on my emotions.

Yes, emotions are a natural part of being human, but emotions were never meant to rule or anchor our life on earth.  That role is reserved for God's Word because it never changes or fails.

When pain, rejection or disappointment threatens to overwhelm you, are you tempted to go by how you feel about your problems and yourself?  Don't fall for it!  Go by what God says about you and your situation!  Things are not always as they seem.  God does not want us down looking up.  He wants us up looking down.  He wants us soaring above our circumstances.

Worship Him and take your seat in His Presence during hard times.  Worship opens the door for the light of heaven to flood our life and circumstances.  His light is the way of heaven to flood truth behind the circumstances.  Spread your wings of worship so you can soar high enough to take your seat beside Him and look out the portals of heaven.  Get a God's view and divine perspective of your situation.

Connie Schmoll

Pillows of Peace

Mark 4:35-41 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Do you get scared when there is a storm? My husband is one that loves storms. He loves watching a storm come in. He loves watching the wind blow, and the rain come rushing in. He especially loves thunderstorms. I don't even think it would fear him to stand out in a storm. It fascinates him! Now I am just the opposite. I am a little fearful of storms and I think the reason I am is because I think about the damage they can cause. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning storms and hurricanes can cause great devastation. I do not enjoy the destruction that some storms can cause: destroyed homes, loss of possessions, and sometimes loss of lives.

In the Bible, we find examples where Jesus was always in the midst of storms: Storms of nature and the storms of life. One thing you will notice is that Jesus always had the same attitude towards each storm He was involved in, and approached each one in the same manner: with calmness and peace. Some he slipped away from, and some he even slept through.

Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, was in prison, and with death facing him the next day, he was asleep and had to be very roughly awakened by an angel sent to deliver him from his prison. How was it that Peter was able to sleep, knowing that he was going to die? I believe that Peter was able to have peace in this stormy situation because he had been on the ship Jesus was on and had witnessed Jesus calming the storm. And just as Jesus had been sleeping peacefully through the storm, Peter also was able to sleep through "his storm". We can be most assured that we will find ourselves in the midst of storms in our life. And how we respond to them is very crucial.

Paul and Silas, also followers of Jesus ended up in prison too. These two men were able to sing songs of praise and worship even in prison. I am sure that they had heard the story many times how Jesus had calmed the storm, so that when they were faced with "a storm of life", they were able to pray and worship their way through it.

We all have found ourselves one time or another in the midst of a storm and become afraid. But when we see the terribleness of the storm start to rage all around us, we need to climb into the ship with Jesus, turn our eyes away from the storm and onto Jesus, and we will find him peacefully asleep on a pillow. Our Lord desires to comfort and cushion us with "heavenly pillows of peace" when we are caught up in the storms of life. Life will supply the storms that come to us, but Jesus will always be there to supply the "pillows of peace" that will cushion us and provide comfort through those storms. He will speak peace, in the midst of your storm, that brings a calm in your life if you will keep your eyes on Him.

The next time a storm blows your way, just grab your pillow and cuddle up to the Lord and let it not be said of you by the Master, "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" Always trust the Lord to provide "pillows of peace" in your storm.

Connie J. Schmoll

Suffering In Silence

Our heart is never hid from God. He hears our hearts cry. When we are hurting or suffering in some way, it will show on the outside in different ways. Until we learn that suffering in silence only brings more pain, we will never receive the healing that we need. We must talk to someone. -Connie

SUFFERING IN SILENCE

"Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence" Psalm 94:17

Have you ever watched a child withdrawal from the world -- from their life? Ever been a witness to an explosion of anger from a so-called rebellious teen or even an adult friend? Ever noticed fear in the eyes of a friend growing distant? Do you ever find that others around you seem to be caught on a spiritual roller coaster ride and can't seem to get off? Or maybe you have found yourself in one of these situations.

We all have things in our life that we wished had never happened. And we want so much to forget them. But most of the time, we become victims of suffering in silence -- trying to hide or bury our hurts and pains brought on by circumstances in our lives.

Choosing to suffer in silence and hoping to hide the hurt and pain, never works. They can never be hidden, because they are eventually shown on the outside by our actions.

The sad thing about suffering in silence is that the actions revealed on the outside portray the person that we most definitely are not! It portrays a person in pain. Our true identity has been lost. You see, the heart is never hidden.

Matthew 12:34...out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh

From deep within, our hearts cry out for peace, and wanting the turmoil within to come to an end. We want our true identity back.

I John 3:20 When our hearts condemn us, God knoweth the heart.

Our heart is never hid from God, and our hearts cry is never overlooked by Him. The only way to ever stop the turmoil and to find peace, is to confess our faults to one another. It is then, your true identity is found again and known by others as well.

What is your hearts cry? What lies deep within that has been buried way too long and hinders you from becoming what you can for Christ? Do you yearn for deliverance?

We need to overcome the things that keep us bound. We must first learn to recognize these areas in our life and bring them before God. Search to find the source of your problem. Determine to face the problem head on and God will bring the solution.

A time of transparency is very critical in the success of ministry. If God is ever going to be able to minister to our hearts cry, we must become transparent. Nothing is hid from Him anyway. Becoming transparent sets us free of excess baggage that we have carried around that was not for us to carry in the first place.

Transparency helps the "specific needs" to be met, as written in James 5:13-16 ...Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

How are we to know to pray for someone or to lend a hand to someone if we do not know the need? How is anyone able to help meet a need of ours, if we never let it be known? If I am hungry and in need of food for survival, and do not let my needs be made known, I will starve. I understand, that this is a very difficult thing...to be transparent, especially when the matters are very personal. It means letting our guard down. Suddenly we are not the person everyone thought we were. Oh no, what will they think of me? We feel we will be less of a person in their eyes.

I have recently discovered and started to understand that some people choose to "suffer in silence" because if they express or share too much to others, all that those people see is their behavior, instead of trying to understand the heart. The behavior of hurting people sometimes is not pretty and so you have people calling them on it, with the understanding that the hurting person should expect it. (expect to be rebuked) I disagree! These people are HURTING!! And the last thing on their mind is their behavior. The last thing they care about is how they are representing themselves. And WE as Christians need to overlook such behavior, for a time, realizing that it's just them acting out the hurt. This is our opportunity to HELP the healing process start instead of kicking them while they're down and adding to their wounds.

In my experience, I have developed a great admiration for those who are transparent. This shows great courage. I, too, long to be more transparent.

Transparency doesn't just take place with anyone. You must first develop a bond with someone. Developing trust and uniting with one another is very important. After the trust is established, then the transparency takes place. We become united in the Spirit of the Lord. We are opening up. We all go through many things in our life for the purpose of helping someone else. When you find yourself in a place of suffering, try to visualize it as "a ministry in the making".

Again, I ask you, what is your hearts cry? Confess it to God. He will lead you to the ones who can help you deal with the issues that keep you bound. Please choose this day to no longer suffer in silence but TELL SOMEONE so that you may be healed. And after your healing comes, you now become a vessel God can use to help someone else who might be going through something similar to what you did.

"When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long" Psalm 32:3

--Connie J. Schmoll

God Meant It For Good

There are times in our life where we have to face hurtful situations brought on by others. We may be the one that is looked down on or thought bad about. But we must keep our trust in the Lord and believe that all is still in His hands and realize that some time these times that we go through, God Meant Them For Good.

GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Have you ever had series of events happen in your life that caused a lot of trouble and you were the one who was looked on as the bad person when the situations were all over and settled? When something like this happens, it really makes a person feel down on them self, even though deep down inside, they know they were the innocent person. If we are truly honest with ourselves, we would realize that the main thing that we are bothered with, is what other people think of us after something like this happens. Many of us want to be liked, and we worry so much about what other people think of us, or just how they look at us. But do you know that the Bible says that we should not be man pleasers, but God pleasers? It has taken many hard lessons for me to go through in my life to finally get to the place where I am finally healed of the "disease to please" people.

Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

There is a story in the Bible that I always refer to now when something like this happens to me. It is the story of Joseph. The life of Joseph speaks of godly encouragement to God's people who suffer and are persecuted.

In Joseph's life, he first shared his dreams with his brothers and his father. But his brothers were jealous of his relationship with his father. Jealousy led to the act of them throwing Joseph into a dark pit, and then selling him to some merchants. They let their father believe Joseph was dead. But wherever Joseph was, he always won the favor of people. He ended up in the house of Potiphar, and was put in charge of all that Potiphar owned until his wife accused Joseph of trying to take advantage of her. He then ended up in prison. From prison, because of his gifts and wisdom, he ended up in Pharaoh's palace in a great position of power. He was responsible for saving many people, including his family, in a time of famine.

Just like Joseph's life, God has many stages that we may have to walk through in order to reach our ultimate destiny in Christ. God showed him his place of power in two dreams but he never revealed the painful paths that Joseph would have to walk to arrive in that place of greatness.

When we first come to Christ, we have a zeal and faith that skyrockets. And then some things happen. As in the case with Joseph, our brothers in the Lord begin to get jealous and look for any excuse to humble us. Jesus warned that a man's enemies would be those of his own household and that can include the household of faith. We are suddenly attacked. We go along serving God when unexpected opposition comes into our life. We ask for prayer, and suddenly, are surrounded by people who are accusing us of every sort of wrong motive. Just like Joseph, we are cast into a deep dry well where no light is shining. If they can't find fault in our actions, they presume on our motives wounding us with jagged accusations wrapped in sweet words of grace. Then it is as if the Father's favor is stripped from us and we suddenly are demoted to the lowest of the low places a slave. People treat us with contempt and we have to learn to bear the injustices in silence. Forsaken by friends and family, we learn in our isolation to draw comfort from God. Even as the Lord was with Joseph, He is with us as well.

After the slavery comes a small promotion and still another test. Will we abuse our newly found authority? We then end up in another place of accusation, and we end up once again stripped of our robe. (or positions in the Church, as was with our situation)

Then comes the prison, the dumping ground of ruined humanity, a place where all hope is vanquished. We are a nobody. The promises of God are now faint memories but His presence becomes our secret abiding place. We have been wrongly accused, sentenced, and locked away. And in such places we learn to allow God himself to become our life. He becomes our comforter, companion, and sweet secret friend.

If you find that life's circumstances seem to be symbolically like Joseph's life, and you have found yourself now in this deep dark prison, be encouraged and know that just like Joseph, a time will come when you will be cleansed of that prison dirt, and you will be brought to a place of power where you speak the Word of the Lord. Suddenly a royal robe is wrapped about your shoulders. This is not the robe of a noble child, but of one in full authority. The Father's favor is again publicly placed on you. After so many false starts, you suddenly find your true place of service. The taunts of your accusers fade in fear of the authority on your life. And the promises of God burst forth to maturity and you inherit his long delayed blessings. Please take heart: God is preparing you for your true place of service by first breaking you, and then remaking you in His redemptive image. He who promised is Faithful and True.

All the things that have happened to you in your life may seem to have been bad, but God is faithful and what others meant for bad God meant for good. God has a purpose for all things that you go through. And I'm not saying that God causes these things to happen but what I'm saying is that when these bad things happen, God is there to work them out for the good!

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
And since His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts, (Isaiah 55:8) the outcome of situations may not be what we expected, nor do things look the way, to others, as God sees them. Just be encouraged to know that God is always in control and all will work out as long as you trust in Him through everything you go through. Even if the place you are at today does not look so good, don't lose faith, because all that you have gone through because of others, God meant it all for good. Do not lose hope and never forget the dreams that God has given to you. It is your dreams that will lead you to your ultimate destiny in Christ.

Connie J. Schmoll

Blessings of Brokenness

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. Matt 26:26
 

We all have had times happen in our lives where we felt like our heart was breaking in two. During these times the pain is so bad that we feel like nothing could ever be the same again and that it is going to be so hard to go on with our life. We wonder why these times have to be. We soon learn that the times of “brokenness” are much needed in our lives.

When we are “broken” we begin to value the brutal and disgraceful assassination of Jesus more than anything, which He did for us so then we become willing to stop any negative addiction or sin in our lives. Brokenness is the key that releases our God-given potential to bless others.

Throughout the Bible Jesus teaches this principle of brokenness and it is also demonstrated by the lives of others. Jesus demonstrated this “broken process” during the Lord’s Supper (communion) but also His own personal life was a demonstration of brokenness.. . This symbolized the body of Christ given for the church. This process is applied to our lives as well, the life application being how the bread underwent 4 processes: Taken (Amos 9:2,3), Blessed (Deut. 28:2-6), Broken (Matt. 26:39) and Given (Rom. 12:6-8)

I think about the time when thousands of people were fed (nourished) by the act of a small boy placing all that he had (lunch) that day into the hands of Jesus. He blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the people. He broke it some more, and gave more. Broke it some more and gave more.

At salvation, we are TAKEN into Jesus’ hands and He lifts us up to the Father who BLESSES us in imperfection with the abilities and gifts for His use. He then BREAKS us spiritually, releasing that reservoir of greatness and blessing, that it may be spilled out or GIVEN unto others. Continually we are broken and given, broken and given. Everything we go through is for a reason and has its purpose in our lives. (2 Cor. 1:3-7)

There is a well of oil trapped within us, but cannot be released until we are broken. Brokenness is painful but it is the passage to the promise. Once we start to understand brokenness, and it’s purpose, we can look back and accept our beginnings.

Through the life of Mary Magdalene, the woman who came with the alabaster box, the principle of broken was demonstrated. When she came, she was ridiculed by others but Jesus accepted her. She gave the gift or offering (alabaster box) to Him. The box is a representation of us – taken, broken, given and oil poured out, the odor filling the house. (Mrk 14:3-6)

Again, we have an example in John 12:24 when he mentioned the corn of wheat falling to the ground, and if it dies, it brings forth much fruit. Jesus (corn of wheat) gave himself unto death (fall into ground), went through the process of brokenness (died) and the oil of salvation was released for all mankind (brought forth much fruit).

We have gifts, untapped resources lying dormant inside us and we need to die to self, go through the broken process, so the oil of worth is released for others.

Jesus is the oil of salvation for us and we are the oil of blessings to flow to others. Our family, our church, those at our jobs or anyone who crosses our path needs the oil of blessing that we process. Let’s not deny our generation. Don’t leave this life without giving others what was God-given to you for their purpose. Do not make the cemetery the richest place in the world.

There is definitely Blessings in Brokenness.

Connie J Schmoll
July 4, 2003