“If through a broken heart God can bring his purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.” – Oswald Chambers

In a previous post, I made the statement: Brokenness is essential for godly leadership.

Whether that is your experience or not, I guarantee it is true.

The comprehensive journey of a Christ-follower always involves some level of breaking. It entails some level of crushing.  When God wants to do something big, he crushes the person he wants to do it through.

Now…I know people can lead without brokenness.  We can influence others to act without personal tragedy.  We can even lead people without God.  BUT…godly leadership…leadership anointed by the King of kings for a much great purpose always comes through brokenness; and that entails a cost.  It requires a sacrifice.  Psalm 51 reminds us that:

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

Consider the life of the man who wrote that Psalm: David.  After being anointed as the next king of Israel by Samuel, where did the Lord prepare him as a leader?  In a journey of agony and suffering…aka the school of brokenness.  God used a bipolar king to break David, to lead him into the crucible of crushing and transform him into the leader He needed him to be.

The sacrifice was great, but the reward was greater: godly leadership over Israel for 40 years.

Not yet convinced? Let’s go further back.

Consider the not so pretty story of Joseph.  As the favored son in a wealthy family, Joseph had everything he could ever want…including high status, fine clothes and grand dreams.  He had divine visions of being a great leader, and he was well on his way to the top!  Then it was all stripped away at the age of 17.  He lost everything: family, status, dignity, clothes, confidence, identity…and he ended up in a foreign land with a foreign language.  Mix in 20 years of slavery, injustice, humiliation and prison and you have another look at the school of brokenness.

Once again…great sacrifice yielded a great return: godly leadership saved the nation that would bring forth the Messiah.

The truth is God doesn’t need more confident or competent people. He doesn’t need the self-reliant or the accomplished. He needs more broken people…people who know how to live from a place of dependence on Him…people who are willing to be sacrificed for His purposes.

Will you allow Him to crush you for His greater purposes?

Click here for Part I

Click here for Part II