Is brokenness really bad?
We used to sing this simple song in church. Perhaps you remember it?
Brokenness, brokenness, is what I long for. Brokenness is what I need. Brokenness, brokenness, is what you want for me, O Lord, O Lord. So take my heart and form it, take my mind transform it, take my willl conform it, to yours, to yours, O Lord.
I say 'used to' only because I can't remember the last time I heard it sung. Broken isn't the bullseye the world tells us to aim for.
Perhaps that is our problem.
I'll bet the very title of this book both terrifies you and tempts you. I understand. It tempts you because it ends with "abundant life" (something we all grasp for) and it terrifies you because it requires something painful and costly.
We had hoped the path to abundant life– well– wasn't quite so daring. But whether or not we choose to embrace broken, we are all "unspoken broken" as Ann says.
Perhaps unspoken means we are not all are willing to admit it, and not all willing to let God use it.
Thankfully, Ann will walk you through her own journey with so much grace and truth, that while you're simply along for the ride, you'll find yourself continually pointed back to the One who was broken for you.
This reminder will invite you to know what to do with it, and inspire you to consider what He might want to do through it.
Brokenness tills our hearts, hardened by protectiveness and pride, into good soil where seeds of truth can take root and bear fruit. Because, as Ann's daughter says, "Maybe the love gets in easier right where the heart's broken open."
I could go on and on, but she truly says it best. Here are a few of my faves of Ann says:
Repentance is what keeps turning you around, around, sanding you down, re-forming you, remaking you— making you into real.
Whenever I forget, fear walks in.
There’s a way to multiply your life. You let every kernel die.
What seems to be undoing you can ultimately remake you.
It’s not that you aren’t going to get it wrong; it’s what you do with it afterward.
When you are filled to the brim with the enoughness of Christ, the only way you can possibly have more is to pour yourself out. The only way to more life is by pouring more of yourself out.
Suffering asks us to bear under that which is ultimately not under our control, which proves to us we have no control. And maybe that’s too much for us in our autonomous, do-it-yourself culture to bear. Maybe more than we can’t stand physical suffering, we can’t stand not feeling in control.
Isn’t the fear that I am not enough really the lie that God isn’t enough?
The truth about The Broken Way is this: it's the only way to abundant life.
I loved this poetic book so much I could write a book inspired by my 23 pages of Kindle quotes. Instead, simply read this book for yourself with a cup of tea. Because tea and this book must be sipped and savoured together.
There's too many books I want to tell you about to wait until next month, so I'll be blitzing you with 2 more book reviews for the next 2 Wednesdays!
