This morning, I listened to Part One of a message on “Brokenness,” by Dr. Charles F. Stanley. What he quoted towards the end of the sermon astounded me:

“All revival follows brokenness. It does not precede it. It follows it.”

I was convicted of many things after listening to this message. Even though I had been going through many hardships these past couple of months (friendships, family, finances, etc.), I knew that God was breaking me to a point where I had to absolutely surrender my direction to be His direction for my life, especially since He has called me to greater plans than the plans that I had in mind for myself. “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” ~Proverbs 16:3~

Myself was selfish. Myself was full of self. Myself was foolish. Myself was ignorant of God and arrogant of wanting to accept His perfect will and plan for my life. This included His ministry for me. “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” ~Proverbs 16:18~

And so it was at that moment that I learned that I had to lean on my Abba Father and no one else EXCEPT HIM in order for me to understand why He was allowing me to go through the hardships that He was allowing me to go through. God was refining me into the woman of His calling. ~”…but the Lord tests the heart.” ~Proverbs 17:3~

The Holy Spirit convicted me to journal a list of things that I had been holding to that were hindering me from living in full submission to God’s perfect will for my life. Here it is:

After spending time with Lord in prayer, I realized that I had to give up all of these worldly things since they were stumbling blocks for me to TRUST in God’s perfect will for my life. These things are temporary and cannot satisfy what is eternal and heavenly, which are unseen. ~”For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”~ 2 Corinthians 4:17-18~

I took a pail of rocks and held 12 of them, one by one, and prayed to God that from this day on, I choose to surrender these worldly things to Almighty God so that I can live in total submission to His will for me. ~”Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”~ John 12:24-25~

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I nailed all of these things to the cross of Jesus Christ—-and it was in this moment that I died to self. ~”And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”~ Mark 9:1~

Praise the Lord for this revival of my spirit! I can now live in the victory that I have always had since Jesus Christ died for me and my sins! I am victorious, in Jesus’ name. ~”Yours Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.”~ 1 Chronicles 29:11~

I have overcome my brokenness because I surrendered all of it to Jesus. My Lord and Savior already overcame it. ~”No, in all these things we are more than conquerors thorough him that loved us.”~ Romans 8:37~

I now want to end this blog post by writing out a prayer for any of you who is reading this it right now and struggling with brokenness and surrender. Let us pray:

Dear God,

Thank you for giving me to courage to testify of how you broke me of this world so that I can come to you in brokenness. Thank you for giving me to strength to let go of these worldly things so that I can fully worship You and submit myself to your absolute will for my life. May You grant any Christian who is struggling with breaking free of himself or herself or any sins that he or she may be holding onto be broken for Your sake so that You may be glorified. May good and not evil come out of being in the state of brokenness so that he or she can let of any present sins in order for him or her to live his or her future free of the sins of the past. Do not let any weapon of the past prosper over Your son or daughter. I speak renewal over his or her mind right now, in Jesus’ name, so that he or she can fully trust you. May your sons and daughters fully surrender to your perfect will for their lives. May they see the good that comes out of being broken and be free now.

In Jesus’ name,

AMEN.