BLESSED BY BROKENNESS!

"And Jacob was alone..And He said "What is your name? And he said Jacob..and He said thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, AND HE BLESSED him there".Genesis: 32:24-29. A world that celebrates success doesn't see value in broken things..but my friend, OUR GOD BRINGS BEAUTY OUT OF BROKENNESS- Do you know that? At this story, Jacob was a fugitive and had been running. He believed in God, but he was out of fellowship with Him. Sounds familiar? Now, God finally had Jacob where He wanted him, ALONE. When people are running from God, they don't want to be alone, they don't want to face themselves, and they don't want to face God either. Verse 24 says " Jacob was alone" and he had a confrontation with God. Have you noticed it- this wrestling was started by God, and could have been over very quickly, but the Lord wanted Jacob to prevail. Oh yes, God wanted him to know "THE BLESSING OF BROKENNESS". Bro: Brokenness is the work of God by which He strips us of self-sufficiency so that the character of Christ may shine through us. Now don't misunderstand; being broken doesn't necessarily mean experiencing some tragedy. Many people suffer tragedy without drawing closer to God or even acknowledging God. Indeed, same sunshine melts the butter hardens the clay- right? The issue in brokenness is not so much our circumstances but our RESPONSE. Tada! Our God strips us from all self-sufficiency, will make us realize we've no strength to fix ourselves, He blocks all exits, and finally we make a life changing discovery "when God is all you have- God is all you need". I am talking to you my friend. Men throw broken things away, but our God never uses anything until he first breaks it. Y'ALL HEAR ME!!