Gratefully Broken

I consider my worship team my small group. We pray together, worship together, cry together, celebrate together, we create together, and most of all we love and care for each other. One of our worship leaders whom I respect immensely often speaks a word of prophecy in our church gave a word to the church a couple of Sundays ago and it was about the need to forgive ourselves because God has already! The scripture below he gave in his devotion the week that followed was confirmation for me. I just love how God works!

Psalm 51:5-17 NLT

⁵ For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. ⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,^[b]  teaching me wisdom even there.

⁷ Purify me from my sins,^[c] and I will be clean;  wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. ⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;  you have broken me— now let me rejoice. ⁹ Don’t keep looking at my sins.  Remove the stain of my guilt. ¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God.   Renew a loyal spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence,   and don’t take your Holy Spirit^[d] from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. ¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,  and they will return to you. ¹⁴ Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;  then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. ¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,  that my mouth may praise you.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.  You do not want a burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.  You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

These verses speak so loudly to me because we are all sinners and yes we all need forgiveness. And just as my worship leader prophesied we need to forgive ourselves that which God has forgiven.

Jesus washed us with His blood and we have to remember that by taking every thought captive.

This verse for me struck a chord in my heart.

⁸ Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me— now let me rejoice

I felt God speak to me and say, it is in your brokenness where My beauty begins!

So I am grateful for my brokenness! I write this through tears of joy because I have a God who wants me no matter what the stains of my garment look like, in fact, that is what drew Him to me!

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. ¹³ Then I will teach your ways to rebels,  and they will return to you.

So I am gratefully broken today and in that I am able to tell others of His joy! God doesn’t want us to keep His joy a secret it. His joy was meant to share with others. When we are restored to Him and we are living in His presence we then can help others return to Him by singing of His forgiveness!

¹⁴  …….. then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. ¹⁵ Unseal my lips, O Lord,  that my mouth may praise you

So again I say I am gratefully broken, are you?