It was early in the morning, and I was already busy. I was up and down the hallway and getting my day started. I felt the rush of the day creeping in as my brain processed a never-ending to-do list until I opened the door to my own office.
I walked in, everything appeared as it should be, except for this very subtle smell of eucalyptus, a slight hint of jasmine, a subtle hint of peppermint. And all of a sudden, the rush in my head slowed down for a bit. I breathed it in and inhaled peace. "Huh, someone may have lit a candle in this building," I wondered to myself as there were only very few people that have trickled in so early in the morning.
But much to my surprise, the aroma just kept getting stronger, and so was this lingering scent's power to clear my mind and calm my senses. So, I got up and looked around. I asked myself, "Where is this coming from?" I tried to look for its source, and I finally found it.
I forgot that I dropped my purse in my rush to get my day started and failed to check its content earlier that morning. And there it was, a completely shattered, broken container and completely poured out oil. Something invisible yet carried so much influence to change the atmosphere and re-orient my senses and awareness. A subtle scent and presence that eventually changed my mindset and my day's cadence. As the smell got more substantial, this invisible element didn't only affect me, it became so evident and undeniable that the scent started to extend far beyond my office doors and seep out through the hallways. Catching people's attention and causing them to ask, "What is that smell?", something so simple and subtle that eventually lingered on my clothing, on me as a person that I ended up all day, walking around carrying the very element that affected me.
And as I grabbed my purse, and started to clean up this beautifully shattered mess, quietly and gently, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit speak, "Roxy, that's the power of a broken vessel." An event that could have been such an inconvenience in the wake of its mess became a very potent lesson for me in contending for God's presence and. understanding of the power of carrying God's presence.
I intentionally started with a story because I want to bring everyone into the awareness that God still speaks. YES! more than just through the covers of His written and revealed Word yet, NEVER in contradiction to it neither.
Like a Father so involved in raising His children, so is our Heavenly Father and His Spirit's desire to be deeply involved in our everyday journey. Hopefully, living in the awareness of His involvement, His love and presence, postures us to be conscious of every day, every moment opportunities to fellowship with Him, learn from Him, and be aware of when He is speaking and teaching. Keeping our hearts settled and in perfect peace each and every day. The assurance, God is with you, your ever-present need in times of trouble (Psalms 46:1), The One who will never leave you nor forsake you, never leave your world abandoned. (Hebrews 13:5.; Deuteronomy 31:6).
Yet before anything, we must first resolve to believe in His involvement in our lives and His commitment to us as His covenant children. Apart from that truth's anchor, manifesting in our complete trust of love towards Him, receiving fellowship, love, and His presence becomes nothing short of striving.
What then does brokenness look like? And what power does it have to change us?
"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit" Psalms 34:18
The true spirit of brokenness and contriteness first manifests in a heart that is wholly humbled by our actual sinful state before a Holy King. Not approaching that state in the spirit of condemnation, but rather with the spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving. Being broken for the things that we have done to hurt the heart of such a loving God and realizing that His decision to love us and redeem us have been made in spite and despite us – and learn to steward and embrace that GRACE.
A recognition of the love that He extravagantly poured out on us, by the shedding of the Blood of His Son Jesus, who drew His last breath, committed Himself back to the Father, and abundantly lavished the earth with the release of His Spirit .
Without that realization of that truth, how can one wholeheartedly cry out? "Yes, I submit, I surrender, have Your perfect way". The boldness to submit ourselves to the process of God's breaking can only come from a deep understanding that we can trust Him in the process. He already gave up His very Son, a ransom for those broken pieces. What more will He withhold from us? (Romans 8:32)
Yet, our simple "YES" is all that He needs, complete submission of our own volition. That "yes" is the trigger that allows that accident, that mistake, that bondage, that broken, sinful state to be turned into a subtle element that eventually becomes a powerful presence and carrier of His story and glory.
Like the story, our moments of pain and brokenness may be a consequence, as it was to me, because of my rush and refusal to stop and slow down. It can come in the circumstances out of our control, it can come from all sources, done to us by people, it may even be a diagnosis, whatever it is, in Christ, we can be reassured, it is all be redeemable.
Then what? It's' simple, we yield. We allow the work to take place, like an aroma that entered through the nostrils that allowed the re-orientation of my senses, so is the process of yielding.
The work of being molded by brokenness and the transforming work of His presence must first have its way IN you before it can purely work through you.
Just as that aroma brought me to an awareness of an invisible existence that soon settled my thoughts, bringing me into a place of understanding that there is in fact, an unseen force at work, I was able to yield, participate and embrace the experience and rip its benefits; so can the power of God's spirit to bring peace, clarity, speak, still and cause all the clutter to dissipate.
"The sheep know His Voice, and a stranger's voice, they follow not" (John 10). "He will quiet you with His love" (Zephaniah 3:17)
And after you utter the word "yes” and yield, now we steep. We allow God's presence and His process it to have its perfect way. Like John, the Baptist cried, "Lord increase, and I decrease." Allowing God to work through the removal of our flesh man thoroughly, so we too can cry out, "It is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me, and the life that I now live, I live for the Son of Man who died for me" (Galatians 2:20). Completely releasing and relinquishing our desires, and what we think it can look like, in exchange for Him and His desires for us. That He, Himself, becomes our delight, and in that place, we receive new desires of our hearts, a more purified, eternally focused, washed by the Word, tested by the spirit types of desires (Psalm 37:4). Desires that now bring glory to God. Moments where His very presence arrests us, brings us peace and assurance, "Christ is enough." Moments when like the Levites of the old, His presence assures us that He is our portion, our great exceeding reward and our joy.
Very briefly meditate on these promises:
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:23 NKJV).
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. (Jude 1:24 NKJV)
Breathe. Breathe those promises in, what a tremendous assurance for us. That we are not left without help, that we have the Holy Spirit, who is available to us, Christ the Hope of Glory in us. It is an all-out, open access, full un-depletable resource in our pathway of restoration. Just as we cannot work out way into salvation, we also cannot "will" our way through our sanctification. The same grace that saves us, affords us grace that empowers us in our submission. "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." (Philippians 2:13)
Say "Yes", yield, submit to the perfecting and sanctifying work of God's Spirit, and receive His grace through it all. In that order.
"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12)
There was a moment in that story that I had to choose to sit, inhale and receive the refreshing of that oil extravagantly poured out. I didn't have to; I had a choice to continually fidget and immediately try and figure out where it's coming from. I also had a choice to complain, count it as an inconvenience, and deal with the mess and miss my moment of blessing.
And if we are honest, we all do it. But there are few critical things that I don't want to miss. First, you are never an inconvenience, and our mess never leaves God rattled nor intimidated. Accept the mess, and bring it before Him, in repentance and humility. And also be prepared for God to show up in the “inconveniences”.
He is always speaking, the question however is, have we practiced His presence well enough to know the difference? Have we studied His character and His Word well enough to be equipped to discern and be aware? And do we slow down long enough to hear His still small voice?
Second, stop making your own fixes, as the primary default to respond to the mess. Before anything, let His presence give you peace, seek His will, seek His perspective, seek Him, and in that space, you will find both wisdom and grace. Learn to be present in that moment because God is an excellent teacher, and it's in the redemption of our messes and our experiences that we learn more of Him, His Word, and His character. He will use everything and anything to teach a heart that's willingly seeking. Grab ahold of God's Word, make it a priority, there's no Scripture too short or a chapter too long. That Word is living, and every bit of it matters. Make seeking. Him and taking things to Him in prayer be the number one default response to anything.
THIRD, do not rush out of it. Do not settle for "bandaid fixes." Yes, the road may be narrow, and the path may be long, the timing may be much more extended, but it is worth it. Don't rush out of seasons of healing; it is where you will receive strength, grace, and confidence in Him. Like Job's declaration, in what we can all define as a catastrophic mess, Job has heard about God, but it's that mess that He has seen with His very eyes and known God for Himself.
Last but more importantly, CARRY that presence, and carry His glory. Be authentic with the mess because it highlights God's grace, but do not take that grace for granted. Be proud of your testimony but be repentant towards your sin. We must understand that we ought never to be proud of breaking God's heart, but we continuously celebrate the lavish outpouring of His forgiveness. Wear His grace proudly, and boast only in your weakness, for it is by which that God's strength has been made perfect.
Having said "Yes", having yielded to His Presence, having submitted to the process and receiving all that He has for you and His work IN you, now you can be that aroma of God's glory and goodness to the people around you.
For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:15-17)
Just as the strength of that scent seeped its way outside of my office, and steeped its way into my clothing, giving the same privileges of enjoyment to those around me, is the same power we attain as we learn to sit in, and carry God's presence. The more we are molded to Christ's conformity, the more we bring God glory. You are a now a new creation in Christ, behold the old things have past and new things have begun.
Our lives, your life, becomes a fragrant offering that carries God's presence and the gift to expose others to God's presence. A fragrance that brings the message of life, to life, to life.
A picture and power of a broken vessel.
So, my dear brothers and sisters, from one broken vessel to another I pray that:
You can Sit, be Silent, Savor, Surrender, be Sanctified and live SET APART.
SIT before the presence of the Lord.
Be SILENCED by His love,
SAVOR the fulness of His fellowship
SURRENDER to the truth of His Word
Be SANCTIFIED by both His Spirit and His revealed Word into the conformity of Christ.
And more importantly, live SET APART, a broken yet fortified vessel of His presence and glory. Change the atmosphere around you. Be the fragrance of life this world is waiting for. Live your life in constant awareness of the outpouring of God’s presence, and live your life pouring out and carrying God’s presence. Live life powerfully, yet gracefully broken.
You are God’s powerful, broken vessel.
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