Broken before the Lord

“The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalms 118:22-24

“Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes'? . . . 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder."  Matthew 21:42,44

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:6-7

   What does it mean to be broken before the Lord?  There are many things described as ‘broken’ in the scriptures, such as shackles, walls, bread, the backs of the proud, and so on.  God doesn’t intend for us to be broken into pieces, such that we would become unusable for His kingdom.  Instead he intends for us to become humble; not standing on legs of our own strength, but relying on His strength and His grace. 

   The intentions of Matthew 21:44 refer to the judgment at the end of this age.  Where the works of all will be judged; and the central question will be what did you do with “Jesus of Nazareth?” Everyone will be broken in one fashion or another.  Those who willingly go to Jesus and allow Him to break them in order to realign with God’s will, are going to be with God forever through his grace.  Those who come proud, saying “I don’t need Jesus because of my family heritage . . . my abilities . . . my connections” or any other human empowered reason will be rejected and ‘crushed’. 

   Immediately in a Christian’s life this could be applied in our path of sanctification.  There are strongholds in our lives which we must bring to Jesus to break them. God is then able to rebuild them to his Glory  through his grace.  Those places/ideas we refuse to subject to Jesus, attempting to hide them, will eventually be crushed out of our lives.

   We need grace in our life and there is only one source of it.  God is love, and also the source of all grace.  Man is inherently self-centered and does not forgive.  Even a great pastor or parent cannot give grace of their own, it is a gift of God.  Once we have seen our need for grace, we are much more willing to show grace to others.  Thereby we glorify God all the more. 

If your life feels broken right now, remember that God wants to help you build it back.  His grace can heal deep wounds.  If your life is smooth sailing right now, show some grace to those around you.  It might be the display of grace they need to get back on track with God.