Glaciers

Glaciers. I like glaciers. Have you ever seen one on TV, or in a picture? Have you ever seen one up close and personal. Glaciers are really cool. They make me think. I think about how they move so slow, but yet they move down into a valley over a period of time. They can crush anything in it's path; luckily we have time to move out of the way. They can be very dangerous, yet so beautiful. I have had the privilege of climbing up to the top of Exit Glacier near Seward, Alaska and hiking along side it to the beginning of the Harding Ice Field. Just a side note, it is named for being the only "exit" some explorers could find off of the ice field after they left the coast.

In the past few days I have seen many friends broken, or at the point of brokenness. I myself, though not admitting it publicly until now, have felt broken recently. Brokenness is beautiful! Why, you ask? Well, think about the glacier I was talking about. For the glacier to get to the bottom of a mountain it has to break, or calve, several times and in many places. The mountain or valley it travels through is not perfectly straight or even. There may be cliffs it has to go around, drop off it has to fill, boulders it had to crunch over, trees, etc. It breaks apart because of melting, too. Climate can play a big part of the glaciers life and surface. Melting, freezing, refreezing, drainage, it all plays an important part. As we go through life Christ has to break us to meet his will and to mold us to meet new challenges. For some there is marriage (yes some have to be spiritually broken before marriage-it is a new spiritual journey), divorce, pain of losing someone special, career changes, new environments, and so on. That brokenness can still weather the worst of winters. The glacier doesn't become two or three or more; no it is still one. It just keeps on moving and bending and breaking. Yes, it does shrink with time, but so do we as we get older. But God can still break us in our old age. I have learned this week that brokenness is just a fact of life.

I hope that God breaks me any time he wants to. That would more than likely indicate some problem areas in my life that I need to fix. Do you know that people use step ladders to cross some of the crevices on glaciers. Yes! With all the modern climbing equipment we have, we use step ladders to cross them. In our lives others tend to try to bandage us up, make us look happy, get the quick fix for us to go on. But God does not see it this way. We may need to be broken for a while before we can get up and continue the good race. In Psalm 51:17 David talks about "the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." God loves to see a broken spirit, a willingness to give all over to him, so that he can mend us. David goes on to talk about God "building up the walls of Jerusalem," in verse 18. He may have meant literally, but God does the same with our hearts, minds and spirits. May He always break me so that my whole being can be mended and rebuilt, so He can use me to reach others and be His light.

Glaciers are beautiful, they broken for the better like us. But the biggest difference is that we are healed, our crevices filled in and made smooth again. Wow, why wouldn't we want this. I pray that God breaks me every morning so that I can again and again be mended throughout the day. My he use my resilience in Him to testify His glory to everyone.

Finally, think about the only person to not have been physically broken in body. Jesus. He was never broken bodily, even in death. Yet he suffered so much before he died; so much that he was spiritually and emotionally broken before His Father the night before He was taken by the soldiers. If Jesus was broken before Him, why do we so often deny ourselves this process of breaking and healing? Let yourself be BROKEN before Him. Thank you guys and ladies for helping me to realize the importance of this process in my walk with Christ this week. To those of you who do not know this may He break you today so that you may be made whole again in the richness of His power and glory. Amen! I love glaciers.