finding your destiny in the school of brokenness 

Our last key speaker here at DTS was Dave Gustavason, who spoke about spiritual authority. More importantly, he shared with us that our authority comes from the experiences we go through hand in hand with God, the breaking points in our lives that seem so hard at the time. Some people believe if you have enough faith, you won't suffer. Life without suffering is then upheld as some supreme idea of the  Christian walk. 

If you do suffer, it must be because something went wrong...you or someone else is at fault. There is of course some truth to this--ultimately, our suffering results from the sin our ancestors first committed. But when we start equating painlessness with the ultimate Christian life, there comes a huge clash, a war between our ideals and Christ's reality. 
Jesus did not say "Follow Me, the way is painless and perfect and you will be admired and esteemed by many on the journey." 

If that was what He came for, then everyone would follow Him. 
Instead, He came to fulfill His Father's plan, which involved a great deal of suffering for Him. Following Christ, more than a quest of our own perfection, is a manifestation of God's bigness and our smallness. We can only follow those who are revealed in  the flesh as leaders, but we do not follow with the attitude "I'm putting up with You leading because eventually we'll get to reign forever in heaven." The Good News is, we are NOT in control of our destiny. We can choose what attitude we take, however, whether one of humility and wonder, or one of entitlement and superiority. We did not choose Him, but He chose us---yes, even to suffer for His sake. God didn't choose us because He prefers us to others--He loves everyone equally. But He chose those He knew would respond to His love with love. 
If Jesus chooses someone, and they go through torture with Him, does that mean their Christian walk is any less perfect than the pastor in the pulpit who talks about God's mercy and grace every week? On the contrary, we look up to those who suffer for Christ's sake, because we know that person is even closer to their God through the suffering. 

It's gruesome. It's terrifying. 
Consider how much He gave. Consider how much He grieved. Consider this, that Jesus died, not of nails in His hands, or because of a cross made by human hands, but of a broken heart. 
Jesus' heart literally split open and then He breathed His last....this is why, when the soldier pierced His side, blood and water spilled out. That is why in the Garden of Gesthemane, He was literally sweating blood. Stress-induced cardiomyopathy, when the heart is so overwhelmed by emotional stress and fills up with water, was the cause of Jesus' death. Most people stayed on the cross 10 days--it should have taken a long time for a normal healthy man to die. Jesus died within three hours of being on the cross. Think of what that means. 
He broke His own heart over you. Over me. Over everybody that ever lived. 
And in this brokenness, in this final act of love, He found His destiny fulfilled. It wasn't until His heart broke that He was reunited with His Dad. He chose to come save us. God didn't force Him to go,  or manipulate Him. Jesus chose to be broken. 
And this is why, worshiping Him will never end! How can you simply send a thank you card to someone Who broke their heart over you? If authority is based on our experiences with God, then those who are breaking their hearts over homelessness, poverty, disease, and abuse, to the point of doing something about it, carry authority, while those who sit back and say "What a sad thing--oh what a sad thing--I think I'll go in my closet and pray now." If you believe, then you believe, but it is possible to live as a Christian yet never embrace the full authority Christ has given those who "participate in His sufferings." His heart broke for that homeless person...ours ought to ache for them too, even a little bit...even if you hurt just a little for someone, you are starting to wake up. 
Jesus is here among us, but He will manifest Himself physically again. This time, He will lead the nations on a white horse, faithful and true to what He promised, that He would not leave us as orphans, but that He would come to us. 

It's amazing, isn't it?
The pain we face doesn't tear us away from Jesus, it brings us closer to Him. The trials we go through don't make us weaker, but stronger; even if we die during a trial, we wake up in His arms.
Now is the time to wake up while we still have breath, to glorify Him and help Him with His kingdom work. What better job could we ask for, then to follow Him? He will make us fishers of men, He will set us walking on the rough waters. He will restore our souls, and lead us to righteousness. There is absolutely no fear in His love, and His perfect love casts out every fear.

We don't have to live in fear! Jesus died to set us free, and in Him we find our ultimate destiny.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18) 

Free indeed!

Free to be who Jesus made us each to be.

 They worshiped the age-after-age Living One. They threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting,

Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God!
Take the glory! the honor! the power!
You created it all;
It was created because you wanted it.

(Rev. 4:9--11) 

In the school of brokenness, we can rest in knowing that this is the God we serve. We're surrounded! His Spirit is the air we breathe, His love the water we drink. We are beautifully broken and free indeed.