I have just returned from a three day spiritual retreat during which I saw some wonderful works of the Lord. What made them so spectacular, in my mind, is that they were all accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit working His will through a lot of "broken vessels."
Broken vessels are those who don't even realize that they ARE vessels full of His power. They love the Lord, they long to serve Him, they seek Him diligently; but they view others as more worthy of service, and themselves as less so.
The pretty and pristine vessels, all shiny on the outside without a single scratch, wanting to keep their appearance of perfection, aren't suitable to the working of the Holy Spirit. Without cracks or holes, there is no possibility of His flowing out of them in ministry to others. Besides, pride forces them to busy themselves so much with keeping up appearances of perfection, that they have no time for the Lord or His works.
Broken vessels, on the other hand, know that they are broken. Pride no longer has a hold on them. These broken vessels know that without the Lord, they would crumble into bits and pieces altogether, but His Spirit sustains them, fills them, and flows out of them towards others just as broken as they are.
Broken vessels have learned how to hear the voice of God and they have learned how to respond in obedience quickly before God's perfect timing is past. Broken vessels are used by God as His hands and His feet on this earth. They are led by God into specific actions or words towards specific people, so that through the broken vessels He can administer His love to those in need of His love.
That happened a lot during the retreat. There were many broken vessels administering God's love to others by use of specific words of knowledge, specific words of wisdom, specific prayers of salvation and healing, specific prayers of deliverance...all spoken to specific hurting children of God.
You can witness the power of God at work when one who is rigid becomes instantly pliable with only a word or two spoken from the Lord...when the unsaved, become saved! In just an instant! From darkness to light! Instant transformation that is visibly witnessed! What a miracle that is!
God knows the right words, and He delivers the right words to His ministers of reconciliation IF they are listening to hear His words. And IF the ministers of reconciliation (not "ministers" as having a position or title in the church, but just ordinary people like you and me...broken vessels) act in obedience quickly to deliver the specific word to the specific person whom God knows needs to hear it, then something miraculous happens.
It's funny, though, how even those who are used this way by God can be astonished at how quickly He causes things to change. It seems to happen in an instant! So quickly that even though we know He is at work, it's just so quick! We want to say, "Wow, God, how did you do that?" Even though we think we know Him fairly well, we are astonished!
It reminds me of the new church huddled together and praying day and night for Peter's release from prison. Yet, when he arrives at their door, they refuse to believe it is him! And yet they have been praying for that very thing! Isn't that a funny and strange thing that we do?
We are no different than the early church, we are all frail humans walking out our salvation, and we are still amazed at God. He continues to astonish us with His love and with the power that His love works in others, as it has done and continues to do in us!
But I want to share one thing that I learned especially well from this retreat and that has to do with being still and waiting on the Lord.
We had an exercise in which we were to be still and silent for 15 minutes. There was a song playing for a small portion of that time in the beginning containing the words "let the noise and clamor cease." [The song was "Be Still and Know That He is God" and Steven Curtis Chapman does a beautiful version of it.]
Well, as I sat there, with my eyes closed, I began to feel cares, and worries, and fears, and anything of any weight dropping off of me, as I entered into the presence of the Lord...simply by waiting on Him with expectations of something wonderful...like peace. I could have continued in that place for hours, never wanting to leave His presence. It was wonderful!
Mind you, it was not a time of prayer, of sending up petitions and requests. It was just a time to "hear" from God, rather than to "speak" to Him. Sometimes we do so much speaking (which we are encouraged biblically to do), but we forget to wait to hear from Him (which we are also encouraged biblically to do!)
As I waited, just enjoying the perfect peace that only He can bring, He began to speak to me. He spoke to me of how my flesh is the "noise and clamor." My flesh makes noises of fear and worry and cares. My flesh clamors for the things that it lusts for. And the Lord let me know that I am to be aware of that noise and clamor, on guard against it, for it leads to sin.
I believe that the solution against the noise and clamor is to run to a quiet place and spend quiet time with the Lord just waiting on Him.
So I encourage you, if you are weighted down with the cares of this world, to find only 15 minutes in your day, to get somewhere very quiet, and be quiet, and don't allow the noise and clamor to continue in your head, but set them firmly aside, and enter into His peace.
And let the Lord speak powerful and healing words of love to your heart.
Broken vessels are those who don't even realize that they ARE vessels full of His power. They love the Lord, they long to serve Him, they seek Him diligently; but they view others as more worthy of service, and themselves as less so.
The pretty and pristine vessels, all shiny on the outside without a single scratch, wanting to keep their appearance of perfection, aren't suitable to the working of the Holy Spirit. Without cracks or holes, there is no possibility of His flowing out of them in ministry to others. Besides, pride forces them to busy themselves so much with keeping up appearances of perfection, that they have no time for the Lord or His works.
Broken vessels, on the other hand, know that they are broken. Pride no longer has a hold on them. These broken vessels know that without the Lord, they would crumble into bits and pieces altogether, but His Spirit sustains them, fills them, and flows out of them towards others just as broken as they are.
Broken vessels have learned how to hear the voice of God and they have learned how to respond in obedience quickly before God's perfect timing is past. Broken vessels are used by God as His hands and His feet on this earth. They are led by God into specific actions or words towards specific people, so that through the broken vessels He can administer His love to those in need of His love.
That happened a lot during the retreat. There were many broken vessels administering God's love to others by use of specific words of knowledge, specific words of wisdom, specific prayers of salvation and healing, specific prayers of deliverance...all spoken to specific hurting children of God.
You can witness the power of God at work when one who is rigid becomes instantly pliable with only a word or two spoken from the Lord...when the unsaved, become saved! In just an instant! From darkness to light! Instant transformation that is visibly witnessed! What a miracle that is!
God knows the right words, and He delivers the right words to His ministers of reconciliation IF they are listening to hear His words. And IF the ministers of reconciliation (not "ministers" as having a position or title in the church, but just ordinary people like you and me...broken vessels) act in obedience quickly to deliver the specific word to the specific person whom God knows needs to hear it, then something miraculous happens.
It's funny, though, how even those who are used this way by God can be astonished at how quickly He causes things to change. It seems to happen in an instant! So quickly that even though we know He is at work, it's just so quick! We want to say, "Wow, God, how did you do that?" Even though we think we know Him fairly well, we are astonished!
It reminds me of the new church huddled together and praying day and night for Peter's release from prison. Yet, when he arrives at their door, they refuse to believe it is him! And yet they have been praying for that very thing! Isn't that a funny and strange thing that we do?
We are no different than the early church, we are all frail humans walking out our salvation, and we are still amazed at God. He continues to astonish us with His love and with the power that His love works in others, as it has done and continues to do in us!
But I want to share one thing that I learned especially well from this retreat and that has to do with being still and waiting on the Lord.
We had an exercise in which we were to be still and silent for 15 minutes. There was a song playing for a small portion of that time in the beginning containing the words "let the noise and clamor cease." [The song was "Be Still and Know That He is God" and Steven Curtis Chapman does a beautiful version of it.]
Well, as I sat there, with my eyes closed, I began to feel cares, and worries, and fears, and anything of any weight dropping off of me, as I entered into the presence of the Lord...simply by waiting on Him with expectations of something wonderful...like peace. I could have continued in that place for hours, never wanting to leave His presence. It was wonderful!
Mind you, it was not a time of prayer, of sending up petitions and requests. It was just a time to "hear" from God, rather than to "speak" to Him. Sometimes we do so much speaking (which we are encouraged biblically to do), but we forget to wait to hear from Him (which we are also encouraged biblically to do!)
As I waited, just enjoying the perfect peace that only He can bring, He began to speak to me. He spoke to me of how my flesh is the "noise and clamor." My flesh makes noises of fear and worry and cares. My flesh clamors for the things that it lusts for. And the Lord let me know that I am to be aware of that noise and clamor, on guard against it, for it leads to sin.
I believe that the solution against the noise and clamor is to run to a quiet place and spend quiet time with the Lord just waiting on Him.
So I encourage you, if you are weighted down with the cares of this world, to find only 15 minutes in your day, to get somewhere very quiet, and be quiet, and don't allow the noise and clamor to continue in your head, but set them firmly aside, and enter into His peace.
And let the Lord speak powerful and healing words of love to your heart.
1 comment:
Broken vessels - - an excellent analogy. Doing a little research, I find that Jeremiah 18:6 speaks of a potter and his clay, "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
Yes, using the description of a broken vessel does work well when describing followers of Christ. We are imperfect, have flaws and are unworthy of God’s grace, but through His Son, we are reunited with our Maker. We are the clay that is massaged, molded, and slapped onto the potter’s wheel. Life has a way of molded us into the form God desires.We are exposed to high temperatures of heat, sometimes causing cracks in the finished product. But this does not deter our Father from loving us. It is through this final process, in God’s Kiln, where Christ’s love covers any blemish that occurs in our vessel. It is also through life's experiences that we become better people. Better examples of Christ's love for us.
I agree, it is through our imperfections that God’s uses us to speak to others. It is through our life experiences that we can communicate with those who are lost. Excellent posting….GW
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