reviving them though they have lain there many generations"
ISAIAH 61:4 TLB
When sickness confined Him to bed, L.B. Cowman put a map above his bed and prayed for the world. He then wrote about how God met him in his suffering. A book came out of his writing. Streams in the Desert, that was so loved by chinese leader chiang Kai-shek. In fact, it was this book and the Bible that were placed in his casket at his death. Cowman's book, punctuated with pain, continues to be of the bestselling Christian books in China.
Sometimes God allows the breaking that eventually produces something of far greater value. George Sweeting says, "An ordinary bar of steel costs only a few dollars. If it is hammered into horseshoes, its price doubles. Made into needles, its value escalates a hundred times. Fashioned into springs for fine watches, its worth becomes incalculable."
Jacob also experienced brokeness. When he feared for his life as his brother Esau and armed men approached him, he turned to the Lord. That encounter was characterized by his struggle, or wrestling, with the angel of the Lord. From that point on, Jacob walked with limp the sign of his broken body and spirit. But God gave him a new name, Isreal, and used him to give birth to a nation.
Allow God to help you in your pain and helplessness. Never forget that His healing strength and sustaining presence allow the broken places in your life to get stronger.
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