LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
The Need for Brokenness
"When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying: Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8).
If any believer has not gone through an experience of brokenness, sooner or later it will happen to him. And most likely it will happen again and again throughout his career.
The believer's life seems to be contradictory. The Lord provides occasions in which we are able to perceive who we really are, in which we are confronted, on the one hand, with the glory of the Lord and, on the other hand, with our own reality. Paul himself, at one point in his Christian life, exclaimed: "Wretched man that I am!" (Rom. 7:24).
If we have not experienced a brokenness that allows us to see how carnal we are, with so many desires, wishes, ambitions and dreams that do not agree with the Lord's will, then the day will come when we will have an encounter with our own foolishness and unworthiness.
Then we will think: "Shall we go on or shall we stay?". Some simply turn and walk away; but not so with Peter. He said: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68). And aware of his unworthiness and misery, he nevertheless stayed with the Master.
Prostrate at the feet of Jesus, Peter did not commend himself. Can we now imagine how the Lord looked at him? Most certainly, He looked at him with love, not on the basis of what the disciple was in himself, but on the basis of what He can do with a brokenhearted man.
Jesus does not see Peter as a failure. The disciple is in the best condition for the Holy Spirit to work in his heart. All this is summed up in a single phrase: "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be a fisher of men" (Luke 5:10). It is the serene word of the One who has everything under control.
Up to that point, Peter had been a half-hearted follower, but now he began to follow Him faithfully. May it be so with all of us. May we not follow Him only because of miracles. Even then, we would only be on the plane of external things. Our blessed Lord is worthy to occupy the first place in our lives and may we surrender to him wholeheartedly just because of who He is.