Luke 20:17-18 ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone’ Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
When we come to the Lord in our life, especially in those very difficult times, we often are searching for comfort or peace. But that is not what the Lord always gives us. Sometimes He brings us to a place where we need to recognize that He is the Chief Cornerstone, and that we are just the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). I am a fleshly human being, and I have many flaws. However, the good thing about that is that I know and have faith that God made me, and He can surely help me. He can also fix me, even if it seems like He can’t fix my situations or circumstances.
When we are filled with pride to the level at which we are blind to faith, our vision misses the spiritual insights and we get into trouble oftentimes. The Lord knows this, and He desires us to constantly be in communication with other believers, expressing our true and real feelings about what we are going through in life. He wants us to encourage each other, and be encouraged by Him. If we get to that place where we are missing this, the Lord has already said to us in His word (and it may be true for what you are going through today) “Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32)
Now, it might not be satan screwing with our lives. When we are in situations that are difficult, it might very well be that we are the problem, our flesh. Or it could also be that we are experiencing the difficulties and consequences of other peoples sins in our life. That is also a very difficult place to be, because it feels like we are never right. We feel like we are the chief of sinners and no matter what we do we are going to be wrong. Chances are you are wrong, or have been wrong in the past, but God is bigger than your past mistakes and sins. Consequences are real, and the result of our sin always leads to death. Whether that be in extreme cases, a physical death, or less dramatically speaking, a spiritual death. The word of God hasn’t lied when it says that “sin leads to death”. (James 1:15)
So what is the practical application of that in our life? For me, the simple answer is the best one. However, in order to recognize that simple answer we need to be in such a mind as to be able to recognize the simple truth’s of scripture. The more weeds, muck, or stuff we have going on in our lives, the more difficult it is going to be to discern what the Lord is trying to tell us. The Lord can certainly break through all the noise and speak to us, but sometimes we are already in a place in our life where WE have filtered out the Spirit’s voice from our lives. Elijah is a good example of obedience to the Spirit, and the battle with the flesh. When he was led by God to execute all the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he was walking in the Spirit. However, immediately afterwards, he began to walk in the flesh, and it wasn’t good was it? Fear took over his life, he found himself in the middle of whirlwind, an earthquake, a fire. But because He had been in the Spirit, I believe that he was able to pick up on the “still small voice” that spoke those words of comfort into his life, in the perfect way that he needed to hear. God can deliver us and comfort us in the exact same way if we have an ear to hear His words.
Listen to God and read His word. That would be the first practical step to take in your life when you feel sifted. Simplify your life and your priorities might be number two. Satan is the author of confusion, and the more “stuff” we have going on in our life the more we miss the simple truths and words of God in our life. Lastly, pursue godly fellowship with other believers. Without Jesus’s words to Peter right before his denial of Christ, Peter may have fallen so hard that he would have never gotten up. But Jesus prayed for him, and gave him specific instructions that he remembered and latched onto.
The last point that must be brought up is probably the most difficult to deal with when we are speaking about our lives, and that is brokenness. Most of us love our lives. We have our special and favorite things that make us happy. We have our indulgences that satisfy us. We even have our personal agendas and desires that drive us. Drive in the Bible would be the equivalent to zeal. Sometimes we have a zeal for good, and other times our zeal is misguided because of our sin. “But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always” (Galatians 4:18). It is not a sin to have a drive to accomplish something, however, when all we are focused on is the drive or the work then we can lose sight of what is really important. The most important thing in our life is to pursue Jesus and His will for our lives. That is it, and that is very Christianeze of me to say that, but it is also true. Now zeal usually leads to results, and results lead to a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of accomplishment leads to pride, which then circles back around to zeal again. The process keeps repeating until we come to a place where the results aren’t showing up, and we don’t get that sense of accomplishment anymore. Yet, at this stage our pride still controls our life, and we can either continue on in our zealous personal desires, or do the exact opposite and be apathetic and do nothing. In this case, both of those areas could be sin to us.
We need to remember that our sins have already been paid for, by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Sin and death have already been defeated in our lives when we give them to Jesus in faith. Our life is no longer our life, it is God’s life in us. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-2). All those sins which ensnare us so easily need to be crucified in our life. In short, we need to die to ourselves, daily. The best chapter I can think which so sums up this point is Hebrews chapter 10. Christ is the answer, and He always will be the answer, to all of our life’s problems.
Here I go again, speaking one word and getting side tracked away from the point of the matter. Brokenness. If we are in a place where we feel stuck, overwhelmed, or depressed, then we know we can’t possibly get out of this place ourselves. After all, it was ourselves that most likely got us in this place in the first place. I also acknowledge that it could have been other people’s sin that got us to this place too, and for that I am sorry. That is a really hard thing to have to deal with, and God never intended for sin to enter the world and sin to affect your life in the way it is affecting you right now. In either case though, whether we are feeling this way because of our sin, or others sins, the AFFECT is a hard and impossible situation in which there is no way out. In EFFECT, our life is out of our control. So, what better time than to put it into the hands of the God who formed us out of the dust of the earth? Fall onto the God that created you, and you will be broken. But why would I want to be broken you might ask? No one does, it’s painful, and goes against everything our flesh strives to accomplish. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. (Ephesians 5:29) However, the result of brokenness is a life that is completely built up by Christ. And the result of believing in Christ to be able to build you up, for those who have put their trust in Him as Lord is a life of abundance. (John 10:10). Those who have not put their trust in Christ and are in possible fear of being ground to dust. When you die, and you don’t know Christ your body goes back to being dust, and your soul goes to hell. (2 Peter 2:6, Ezekiel 28:18). When you do know Christ, and you die, you are given a new body in heaven. (1 Corinthians 15)
So, this brokenness is all part of God’s plan for your life. Embrace it, and look to God for the answers when you are being broken and crushed up. Don’t lose faith and become ground up into dust, for that will profit you nothing in now or in the end. Have faith, stand firm in what God has spoken. Read, memorize, and meditate on the word of God. I encourage you to read all these verses I have referenced here. There are so many more that could be developed if you wanted to, so dig in deep, hold on tight to Christ, and watch what the Lord will accomplish! (Exodus 14:13)
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