Repaired

It is true, Jesus Breaks Christians. He does not stop there. After Jesus breaks a man, he rebuilds him. He rebuilds him far better than he was before.

Here in Daphne, a small building recently burned. Flames destroyed much of the roof and most of two walls. Smoke infiltrated the remainder of the wood frame office and rendered the building a total loss. Now the heavy equipment has arrived, and the remaining building is scraped away. Nothing remains but the foundation. Soon, a new building will stand in its place. It will be an improvement over the original.  In the same way, Jesus takes away the debris of a hard life and replaces it with a spiritual man much improved over his original self.

God crafted Moses into a great spiritual leader. It was not because of any special talent he had, but he gave himself to God. In Exodus 3, Moses is weak, even spineless. He makes one excuse after another to God. He does not want to be bothered. H is happy with his life just as it is. However, God is having none of his excuses. He has plans for Moses.  In Exodus 3:14 the “anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.” It was time to change weak Moses into a powerful leader.

For the next 40 years, Moses would face hardships that were physical, emotional and spiritual. He would face conflicts within his family (Numbers 12:1 ff), his brethren (Numbers 11:2), a world leader (Exodus 5:1 ff) and even God Himself (Numbers 11:10 ff). However, by the end of his life, Moses was so special that Scripture called him “a servant of the Lord” and God personally buried him (Deuteronomy 34:5, 6). The Lord broke Moses and then rebuilt him into a great servant.

You will face hardship in life. There are times when all hope is lost, and despair reigns. No self-help book from Amazon helps. Know that in these depths, God is near. He is the great Re-Builder of men and women who seek Him.

Consider the struggles of Paul:

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;  on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:24-28).

Is it not reasonable to conclude that apart from his struggles the apostle would not have become the man we know today?

Paul suffered an unknown thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7). He begged for its removal but God declined. Paul’s conclusion? “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Are you struggling? Is life hurting? In Christ, the pain can turn to rejoicing. Let our Lord brake down and rebuild!

Bryant Evans may be reached at bryant at preachersstudyblog.com. You can follow Bryant on Twitter @jbevans.