Broken
Have you ever felt like this?
“I have been forgotten like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.”
- David (Psalm 31:12 ESV)
2. God specializes in using things that are broken.
A broken pitcher - and light shone out (Judges 7:16-17, 20) - Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers… Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers — they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing — and they cried, "The sword of the LORD and of Gideon!"
A broken loaf of bread – and the hungry were fed (Matthew 14:19, 21) - Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves… The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
A broken jar and fragrance filled the house (Mark 14:3) - While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
A broken body – and opportunity for eternal life (1 Corinthians 11:23-24) - The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me."
2. A broken heart is the place where God does his work.
Psalm 34:18 - The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 51:17 - The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 147:3 - He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
3. God can re-shape a messed-up, broken life.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 - This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?"
4. Opposing or ignoring Jesus is like beating your head against the wall. There will be consequences.
Matthew 21:44 - He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.