Supernatural Transformation: Change Your Heart Into God’s Heart (33 page)

There are many blessings and benefits that result from experiences of brokenness. Let us look at ten of the most notable ones:

1. We Will Gain an Increased Sensitivity to God’s Presence

Many people wonder why they can’t sense God’s presence. They don’t realize that hardness of heart and/or resistance to being broken by God are the greatest impediments to experiencing His presence. Often, those who respond in a positive way to brokenness by repenting and seeking God can soon perceive His presence. They can clearly hear His voice as their hearts become yielded and tender before Him. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that we will experience greater times in God’s presence after we have gone through the process of brokenness and have fully surrendered to Him.

2. Pleasing God Will Become Our Highest Priority

Brokenness changes our focus—pleasing God suddenly becomes the most important thing in our life. Doing His will is now our supreme priority, and His purpose is our purpose. We can say, as King David did,
“
I delight to do Your will, O my God,
a
nd Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).

3. We Will Be Led to Spiritual Maturity

“By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin”
(Hebrews 11:24–25). Moses surrendered his privileges as the adopted son of Pharaoh’s daughter—privileges of position, wealth, and luxury—in exchange for the cost of suffering in order to liberate the people of Israel from slavery and to lead them to the Promised Land. Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with earthly fame, prestige, credentials, power, or influence. Rather, it has to do with recognizing God as our Sovereign, relying on Him totally, yielding our heart to Him, and learning to understand and value His priorities and purposes as our own; it consists in learning to be obedient, submissive, and available to our Lord. Moses made a decision to submit to God’s will and be transformed in order to fulfill his purpose in life—a life that had been spared from death by God’s protection when he was still a baby. (See Exodus 1:15–2:9.) Moses’ destiny had been set since birth, yet he had to endure the process of brokenness so that he could attain the maturity required for him to become the deliverer of Israel.

4. We Will Be Enabled to Carry Out Our Purpose
and Calling

Every person has been created by God for a unique purpose and calling. No one enters this world by chance. Yet most people don’t know the purpose for which they were born. They have not yet received the spiritual insight for it or experienced the spiritual growth necessary to carry it out. Sometimes, our calling unfolds to us over time. Like Moses’, our heart must be transformed so that we may recognize our purpose, move forward to fulfill it, and develop the passion and maturity to complete it as the Lord guides our steps.

God already sees our purpose fulfilled before we are even aware of it or begin to pursue it. For example, right now, with His spiritual sight, the Lord may be seeing a certain businessman earning millions of dollars that he will use to advance the kingdom of God. He may be seeing an evangelist winning many souls for Christ, or a pastor whose church has a powerful outreach of healing and deliverance in his city. Suppose the businessman, evangelist, or pastor is pursuing a completely different vocation at the moment but is undergoing a personal crisis or another difficulty. God is allowing that individual to experience brokenness, because He sees beyond the suffering to its ultimate purpose—enabling the person to discern and carry out his true calling and to reflect God’s nature, bringing Him glory.

Similarly, when we are in the midst of our own brokenness, God sees His finished work in us; and He sees us carrying out His purpose in the earth. As we go through the process of brokenness, God will remove various obstacles that prevent us from being able to fulfill our calling, so that we are free to carry it out.

5. We Will Know God’s Character in a Deeper Way

Brokenness also leads us to experience God and to know Him in a deeper way than we have been able to previously. We will more clearly understand His love and His will. Just as Jonah needed to learn about the vastness of God’s mercy, and to emulate it, we need a fuller understanding of the many marvelous characteristics of God’s nature. When we understand them and, in response, humble ourselves before Him, He will enable us to reflect those very qualities.

6. We Will Receive a Greater Understanding of Ourselves

Through brokenness, we are led to identify our weaknesses, shortcomings, limitations, and frailties. Through this knowledge, we recognize that we must continually depend on God’s mercy and love. Moreover, as God transforms us, we come to a greater understanding of who we are in Christ and how God wants to change us into His likeness.

7. We Will Develop a More Loving, Merciful, and Forgiving Attitude Toward Others

Thanks to brokenness, we begin to see people differently. We realize that they are not better or worse than we are. We let go of our sense of superiority or inferiority and begin to see others from God’s perspective. Through the process of brokenness, we are enabled to let go of a judgmental and critical spirit, and to more easily overlook offenses. We develop deeper love for others, extending greater mercy and forgiveness to them in relation to their weaknesses and failings. We no longer “demand”—whether verbally or silently in our own thoughts—that people pay what they owe us or be punished for what they have done to us so they will “get what they deserve.” Regardless of the spiritual, emotional, or mental condition a person might be in, we will see him with love, pray for his healing and prosperity, and help meet his needs.

Brokenness increases our love and compassion for other people.

8. We Will Develop a Spirit of Meekness

Contrary to what many people think, the biblical concept of meekness is not “weakness.” Rather, its meaning is reflected in these definitions: “having or showing a quiet and gentle nature,” and “enduring injury with patience and without resentment.” Brokenness transforms us into teachable, humble, open, and transparent people. When we have a meek spirit, we no longer need everyone to agree with our opinions. We stop being defensive, so that we are able to hear the advice of others and to learn from them. Leaving behind egocentrism, we are able to work well with others as a team, in order to help other people and to promote the advancement of God’s kingdom in the world.

9. We Will Have a New Desire to Grow in All Areas
of Life

After going through the process of brokenness and experiencing the healing of our heart and receiving a renewed outlook, we are liberated to become who God created us to be. Accordingly, we desire to grow, mature, prosper, and succeed in every area of our life—whether in relation to our personal development, family life, church/ministry, education, business/work, finances, or another area.

God doesn’t exist for us. We exist for Him.

10. We Will Enjoy New Freedom in the Spirit

Last, we will experience greater freedom in the Spirit. We realize that we were formerly in bondage to people, places, and circumstances, as well as to our own prejudices, selfish desires, and other negative outlooks, that hindered us from advancing in Christlikeness through the transformation of our heart. After brokenness, we enjoy a new sense of inner peace and contentment as we yield our own “rights” and “demands” in order to carry out the requirements of God’s love. The sinful nature is restrained, and the life of Christ—Conqueror over sin and death—rises within us. Because we have surrendered to Him, He can manifest Himself in and through our life.

Every true sacrifice we make for God is made from the place of
a broken heart.

Prayer of Brokenness

Brokenness of heart is a necessary process that every Christian must endure in order to draw closer to God—to know Him better, to please Him in greater measure, and to carry out His will more completely. If we walk around with a wounded heart, never experiencing healing, we will inevitably hurt others, and we won’t reach our potential in God.

Have you been resisting the process of brokenness? Have the storm, the fish, the worm, and the scorching wind come, yet nothing has made you yield to God, so that He can heal you, transform your heart, and carry out His purposes through you? Perhaps you feel that you are at your breaking point, that you are at the end of your human strength, and you would like to let go of your burden and find rest in God. Today, you have an opportunity to submit your life to Him, finding peace and wholeness. Pray the following prayer to release your rebellion and resistance and to surrender completely to your loving heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father, I yield my independence, my self-sufficiency, and my pride to You. I want to fulfill what You have called me to do on this earth. Transform every area of my life that is not aligned with Your will. I repent of hindering Your purposes for me and of resisting the transformation of my heart in relation to my [personal development, family life, church/ministry, education, business/work, finances, or another realm]. Forgive me and cleanse me through the blood of Jesus, which He shed on the cross for me. I receive Your forgiveness right now, and I decide, of my own free will, to deny my sinful nature, to surrender to You, and to obey Your will.

I consecrate myself to You and commit to depend totally on You. From now on, no matter what happens to me, I will seek no “alternative” in life but You. Now, I ask You, Lord, to fill me with Your presence. Enable me to sense the reality of Your nearness to me. Pour out Your love and compassion in my heart, so that I can see other people as You see them, and love them as You love them. As You fill me with Your presence, love, and power, help me to lead others to repentance and faith, so that they, too, can draw close to You. In the name of Jesus, amen!

10

F
rom the time she was a child, Siobhan had anxiously asked herself, “Am I destined for greatness?” Having earned degrees in biomedical engineering and database development, she had outstanding academic ability and had received recognition and titles. However, she felt driven to succeed, and something was lacking in her life. Here is her story: “I was raised by a Christian mother (and was rarely visited by my father), but everything related to ‘religion’ was last on my personal agenda. I graduated from high school as one of the top three students in my Caribbean nation. My entire existence was built upon a strong foundation of education and ambition.

“When I was sixteen, I enrolled at the University of Miami with plans to become great at ‘everything,’ from sports to my scholastic endeavors. My hunger for success was insatiable. I joined academic clubs, social clubs, and athletic clubs—and I designed plans to transform them all. I was busy every second of my life, going from activity to activity. But, at the end of the day, when I would lie down to sleep, I would try to make sense of everything I had done. Regardless of how many trophies I won, how much glory I received, or how much influence I had, I still felt that something was missing. My soul was unsatisfied and empty. I needed ‘more’—more plans, more goals, more success, more out of life.

“One Friday night, a friend from school whom I barely knew invited me to attend a youth service. After evaluating the pros and cons, I decided to attend—expecting to gain influence and connections more than anything else. However, what I found that night completely revolutionized my life. It didn’t matter how much I tried to analyze it, the experience couldn’t be quantified; for the first time in my life, I witnessed the power of God firsthand through healing and miracles. The scientist in me tried to observe, dissect, classify, and replicate the experience, but the only word that seemed to explain what I had witnessed was
supernatural
. This was not an emotional experience, because emotions could never have made bones grow or twisted legs straighten. My purpose had now become clear, tangible, and precise. I felt completely satisfied.

“According to this world’s standards, my life had been wonderful, but what God had for me was much better. It was on my way to ‘greatness’ that I found the One who brought sense and purpose to my life. I had never known the measure of God’s grace until I met the person of His Son Jesus. It was then that I understood that my life, the one I thought was ‘perfect,’ was based on sin and oppression. My family had lived victimized by divorce, anger, adultery, lust, lack of communication, and many other problems.

“Since that day five years ago, I have been a recipient of God’s mercy, grace, deliverance, and transformation in every area of my life—but none so powerful as in my soul. The void, insecurities, rejection, unforgiveness, bitterness, pride, and fear of failure that I used to experience were cast out of my life. My soul was restored by the inexplicable power of the Holy Spirit. Many of my colleagues in the scientific world reject my faith, saying that it is ‘a leap in the dark.’ But, by personal experience, I can say with certainty that my faith in God is the answer to the revelation of Light.”

Love God with Your Heart and Mind

A supernatural encounter changed Siobhan’s mind-set and led her to the living God, transforming her life. We all need a change of mind-set in order to fulfill what God has planned for us and to live as He intended us to. When we were saved, we received not only the “new man,” or a new spirit, with the nature of Christ, but we also received a new mind—
“the mind of Christ”
(1 Corinthians 2:16). Just as our heart has to be transformed by God to line up with the “new man” within us, our mind must be transformed to align with the
“mind of Christ”
within us. We have a vital part to play in this process, because we are commanded to love God not only with all our heart and all our soul but also with all our mind. (See Matthew 22:37.) Our mind must increasingly become one with God’s. Otherwise, we cannot become effective vessels to carry out His purposes.