As we have been leaning in to this era of building, the Lord has released wisdom that has uncovered an important building tool in the Kingdom - brokenness.

Usually when we hear the word ‘brokenness’, it doesn’t conjure up feelings of excitement or growth. In fact, if we’re honest, it evokes the feeling of fear and shame that makes us want to avoid it altogether. But what we see in the scriptures is that brokenness is actually a key to building in the Kingdom. As we embrace it, it becomes a powerful building tool. The areas of brokenness that encounter Jesus become stronger than when they were unbroken. Now we can carry more weight and build higher on the same area that was once broken!

Some of our greatest moments of learning come from our brokenness. We may learn what to do and what we might change for next time, but perhaps the greatest ‘learning’ we will do is to learn the truth that God will never abandon us to brokenness! We can begin to trust His promise that He will ALWAYS come to it, like a moth to a flame.

The Lord is close to all those whose hearts are crushed by pain, and he is always ready to restore the repentant one. TPT Psalm 34:18

The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. KJV

And what you will have AFTER you surrender your brokenness to the Father is turned to gold, gems and jewels. (1 Cor. 3:12-15) All of a sudden, you are building with the stuff of eternity and you are stronger than you were before. Let’s take a quick look at some key words in the King James version of the passage.

Nigh - to bring aid

Broken - to be broken; used of shipwrecks that are wrecked; afflicted; sad; of a broken mind.

Heart - inner part; mind, will, understanding; seat of emotions and passions; seat of courage.

Saveth - to be set free; liberated; saved from moral troubles; given victory.

This tells us that the Lord brings aid and sets free those who are willing to embrace their brokenness and bring it to Him. When we hide it, we stay broken and we aren’t able to be built. It remains an untransformed place where despair can settle in. Your structure becomes shaky and hollow. So the question is, if brokenness is a key to building in the Kingdom, why would we avoid it? I believe it’s because just like God is drawn to brokenness, so is fear and shame.

Fear speaks loudly saying, “That’s too painful to look at, that will be too painful to go through, you won’t be able to sustain the pain of that, the brokenness will be too much for you, God is going to leave you in that pain,” while shame boldly claims, “If you expose that place of brokenness, what will everyone think of you? How will people see you? What will your reputation be if you reveal this broken part? People will reject you. They will give up on you. People will disconnect from you. You will be punished.”

But, the truth is that if we let the Lord separate fear and shame from the brokenness, we’ll be able to see it for what it is - a promise of encounter with the love of the Father. By letting Him bring you aid and set you free in your brokenness, you begin to build trust that He will never, ever leave you abandoned in your pain. The voices of fear begin to quiet down and shame loses its grip. In fact, He promises that the very place where you were broken WILL BECOME a place of restoration. (Hosea 2:15) He will always give you beauty for ashes, a blessing instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. (Isaiah 61:3)

Because of the restorative nature of our Father, brokenness becomes the substance we build with. If we try to build without embracing our brokenness, we are building with materials that can be ‘burned up’. At any moment, the enemy of our souls can touch the brokenness within us and use it to topple what we’ve been building.

Once we can truly see our brokenness the way that God does - as nothing to be scared or ashamed of - I believe we will see great acceleration in the building of the Body of Christ and each of us as individuals.

Ask Holy Spirit for revelation and the courage to bring your brokenness before the Father, pressing through the voices and feelings of fear and shame. Ask Him love you in those areas. He’s got you!