"The great weakness in the North American church at large, and certainly in my life, is our refusal to accept our brokenness. We hide it, evade it, gloss over it. We grab for the cosmetic kit and put on our virtuous face to make ourselves admirable to the public. Thus, we present to others a self that is spiritually together, superficially happy, and lacquered with a sense of self-depricating humor that passes for humility...we have not come to terms with the tragic flaw in our lives: the brokenness that is proper to the human condition -Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust [122].
Humility - a modest or low view of one's own importance; humbleness. Manning takes it a step further to say humble men and women have "NO opinion of themselves, because they so rarely think about themselves" [120]. How cool is that!? A humble person is completely overwhelmed by our God - so blown away by His creation and left craving more. A humble person's heart, mind and life are CONSUMED with the desire to know the Lord's thoughts, His heart and His will. A humble person's identity does not derive from their profession, their relationship/socioeconomic status, or what they look like - their identity is found in the Lord. A humble person accepts his brokenness - he is authentic with where he's at: his struggles, his fears, the real condition of his heart. While a humble person exposes his brokenness, he finds joy in his weakness, for it is in our own weakness that the Lord's strength is most seen.
Lord, make me humble. Humble me, humble my heart. Consume my life. Lord, bring me to my knees - a true position of humbleness and a place to acknowledge that I am nothing and You are everything. May i kneel in Your awesome presence. Expose my brokenness. Shed Your light into the darkest and most inner places of my heart, that i have kept hidden. I want to be real. I want to see churches everywhere - the body of Christ - cast off their masks and be true to the broken conditions of their hearts. Break us, God. Humble us. May humility invade the churches - let us become so real with one another. Shed your light through any darkness. And through humility, God, may we rest, on bended knee, in Your presence. May we crave nothing more but to bow at Your feet. Let us lose ourselves in our brokenness, cast ourselves at Your feet, and find our identity in You. At Your feet does Your grace and Your mercy consume our brokenness and give us a name. I love You. I want more of You, God. Break me.
My darling girl,
ReplyDeleteI wish you to know how remarkable you are. I wish you to feel the intensity of Christ's redeeming love - To keep your eyes lifted and your chin tilted towards the Cross - To see not the amount of growth you've accumulated, but rather the amount of God's sanctifying work - To rest in the truth that you are lovely because you are the daughter of Yahweh. I wish you to know, in humility and purely for the glory of God, that you are a light to this world - To feel the kiss of the Holy Spirit in the spring breeze - To be consumed by a desire to make disciples of all nations, be it in your future classroom, your family, your peers, or your mission trips - To release all inhibitions that constrain your beautiful soul. I wish you to know that the Creator of Heaven and Earth knows you, intimately knows you, and in that you rest your head upon his chest with a wildly ruthless trust. I love watching you grow.