God has a special place in his heart for the weak, the weary, the downtrodden, the broken. “Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden,” he says, and “bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” His special blessing is upon those who are poor in spirit, who are meek and mournful, who are reviled and persecuted. The faith that honors him is the faith of a child, and his power is made perfect in weakness more than in strength. He deliberately chooses what is foolish in the world to shame the wise and what is weak in the world to shame the strong. Where we tend to dispose of what has been broken, God treasures it. Where the human instinct is toward those who are confident, assertive, and self-sufficient, the divine eye is drawn to those who are humble, who are contrite in spirit, and who tremble at God’s Word. Where the world looks to those who are whole and strong, God looks to those who are weak and broken, for his specialty is bringing much from little, beauty from ashes, strength from weakness.

God does much with broken things. It was with broken leaves of sweet spices that the priests mixed the incense for the tabernacle, with broken clay jars that Gideon won his great victory over the armies of Midian, with the broken jawbone of a donkey that Samson triumphed over 1,000 Philistines, and with broken loaves and fishes that Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000. It was toward bodies broken by disease that the Lord displayed his miraculous power, and with a broken alabaster flask that Mary anointed him for his burial. It was through the breaking of bread that Jesus prophesied his suffering and death, for his body had to be broken for God to save the souls of his people. It was God’s will that the eternal Son would take on mortal flesh and his head be broken by sharp thorns, his back by brutal whips, his hands and feet by cruel nails, his side by a savage spear. His broken body was laid dead in a tomb, but through the shattering of rocks and tearing of a curtain God declared he had accepted the sacrifice. There would be no redemption, no salvation, without the broken body of the great Savior.
The history of the Christian church continues to display that God delights to use broken things. It was on broken pieces of a ship that Paul and his companions escaped to land and with a body broken by a “thorn” that Paul was saved from conceit. It was through persecution breaking a man from his congregation that the church was given Pilgrim’s Progress, through a shipwreck breaking parents from their children that worshippers were gifted with “It Is Well,” and through spears breaking men on an Ecuadorian beach that a generation of missionaries was rallied to the cause. It was through the ravaging of Helen Roseveare’s body, the paralyzing of Joni Eareckson Tada’s, the blinding of Fanny Crosby’s, the imprisoning of Marie Durand’s, the crippling of Amy Carmichael’s, the slaughtering of Betty Stam’s that countless Christians have received strength to sustain them through sorrow and suffering. The bones of Wycliffe were crushed to powder and thrown into the river Swift, but his translation lived on. The neck of Tyndale was crushed at the stake, but God answered his final prayer and soon even the lowly plowboy was reading God’s Word. The bodies of Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer were broken and burned, but the flames that consumed them lit a fire for the gospel that has never been quenched.
And so it seems that God often prefers to use what has been broken over what has only ever been whole. He breaks our wills so we will turn away from ourselves and come to him in repentance and faith. He breaks our plans to redirect our ways and ensure that his much greater plan will go on not just around us, but through us. He breaks our bodies to display that his power is made perfect in weakness. And yes, he breaks our hearts. He breaks our hearts by loss to prove to us that the gospel truly is gain. He breaks our hearts by grief so he can increase our longing for the place where every tear will be dried. He breaks our hearts by disappointment to prove that this world can never truly satisfy. He breaks our hearts by bereavement to pry our fingers off a world that could otherwise allure and entrap us with its charms. No wonder, then, that so few of us make our way through life without some great trial, some great adversity, some circumstance in which we cry out “I am undone. I am broken.”
What can God do with broken hearts? Perhaps the better question is what can God do with unbroken hearts?, for God delights to use what has been broken. He delights to display his power through what is weak, to display his strength through what is small, to display his glory through what has been shattered. His breaking is never pointless, for he is neither arbitrary nor cruel. His breaking is never purposeless, for he is too wise to ever be wrong and too kind to ever be heartless. He breaks us to shape us. He breaks us to mold us. He breaks us to use us. It is through the breaking that he makes us suitable for his purposes. It is through the breaking that he makes us a blessing. It is through the breaking that he makes us whole.

Inspired by The Classic Works of J.R. Miller.

This week’s Free Stuff Fridays is sponsored by The Master’s Academy International (TMAI), who also sponsored the blog this week with the article “Your Invite to TMAI’s International Symposium.” They are giving away the e-book “How to Build an Effective Missions Program.”

Free E-Book Giveaway
This free giveaway is a succinct and important e-book titled “How to Build an Effective Missions Program.” It’s designed for pastors, but can be useful for any believer and will be given to everyone who enters.
“The seven steps below are intended to guide your missions leadership team through this process…Our goal is to aid you in making the necessary adjustments in order to ensure that your program is as biblical, God-honoring, and effective as it can be.”
Steps Discussed:

Understand the Motivation
Recognize Biblical Principles
Build Your Leadership Team
Devise Your Strategy
Communicate to the Church
Evaluate Your Current Program
Adjust Program as Necessary

“Ultimately, with your new missions strategy as a foundation, your congregation will be able to consider, within a biblical framework, what existing or new missions support opportunities best concur with your goals. As such, your church will be better equipped to maximize its efforts to glorify God and reach the world for Christ.”

The Story Behind the Book
“For over a decade, The Master’s Academy International has been helping to strengthen churches around the world by training indigenous church leaders to become approved pastor-teachers. That has been accomplished primarily by churches sending missionaries to establish and operate training centers in other countries. We are also committed to assisting sending churches by producing and collating resources that assist in the global missions endeavor.
As I have interacted with churches across the United States and around the world, I find that many are struggling with how to get involved in missions and sustain the effort through the years. I have spoken with many pastors who have come into a church to find either no missions effort or one that needs to be re-aligned with biblical priorities, but are unsure how to make this happen. I have spoken with elders who sense the need for their church to be less reactive and more proactive in the area of missions, but are not clear about how to go about it. TMAI desires to serve local pastors in asking and answering these questions: What should be our priorities in missions? What principles should govern our investment of time, people and money? How can we participate most effectively and efficiently in serving the church around the world?
This booklet is intended to…help churches to accomplish the task given by Christ in the Great Commission. We pray it will be useful to you as a pastor leading your church in thinking through the motivations and methods for carrying out the Church’s glorious mission.
Mark TatlockPresident, The Master’s Academy International”

TO ENTER:
Giveaway Rules: You enter—you win! You may enter one time only. By submitting your information, you agree to receive regular updates about the ministry of The Master’s Academy International. The giveaway closes on Friday, January 13, 2023, at midnight. Enter your information into the form HERE.

May the God of love and peace be with you on this fine day.

At Westminster Books this week you can get a deal on Richard Gamble’s massive three-volume series on the whole counsel of God.
(Yesterday on the blog: What Matters Is Not the Size of Your Faith)
Stop Binding Consciences And Marking Spirituality By Christmas Celebrations
This is a good and necessary reminder. “Christmas is not in the Bible. You don’t have to do it and you don’t have to avoid it either. We are entirely free. Your spiritual temperature is not determined by whether you celebrate Christmas or not. Neither does your love for Jesus depend on whether you manage to make Jesus the absolute epicentre of your celebration, with every bauble reflecting gospel truth, or you just enjoy having a nice time and give thanks to God for it like you would any other enjoyable thing. None of it, really, tells you very much about your love for Christ.”
The Gospel of Jesus’ Wife Fiasco
If you’ve never read about the fiasco related to Jesus’ supposed wife, this article may be of interest. (Also consider reading the book Veritas which offers far more detail).
Bethlehem’s Supernatural Star
This is a helpful thought from John Piper: “I risk a generalization to warn you: people who are exercised and preoccupied with such things, as how the star worked and how the Red Sea split and how the manna fell and how Jonah survived the fish and how the moon turns to blood, are generally people who have what I call a mentality for the marginal.”
The Most Miserable Time of the Year
Sticking with the Christmas theme, here’s Al Gooderham on getting Christmas wrong. “Yes our world so often loses Jesus in the suffocating press of the tinsel and gifts and experiences and meals. But what if we had too? What if instead of haranguing society and preaching a gospel that seems to be dead against joy we showed them what they were missing?”
Who Wrote Hebrews? Exploring a New Testament Mystery
Here’s a fairly lengthy look at one of those age-old mysteries.
The Life of Naomi and How Adversity Disguises God at Work
Deborah McQuilkin: “My life as a Christian is not what I expected. In fact, at one point I said to God, ‘Is this worth it? Thirty years I have followed you as closely as possible, and this is how it turns out? Should I just leave you now? What is the point?’ Shock and disappointment filled my heart and I wondered what my life meant.”
Flashback: Sexual Revolution, Same Old Revolution
Today we are watching people all around us revolt away from justice, away from truth, away from common sense, away from the common good. The revolution rages around us and sometimes within us.

Shaky preaching tends to make shaky Christians. —Theodore Cuyler