Take my heart and mold it
Take my will, conform it
Take my mind, transform it
Holiness is what I long for
Righteousness is what I long for
Brokenness is what I long for
Take My Life by Bishop T.D. Jakes
For many years, I sang this song, but was silent on the “brokenness” part. I didn’t relate to this phrase. Who in their right mind would want to be broken? I surely wasn’t going to speak that into my life. Yet, now I see how critical being “broken” has been to my transformation. As long as everything stays the same, there can be no growth. There can be no remodel or renovation. Some of us need to be broken down before we can introduce change into our lives.
Sometimes everything has to be torn down and torn apart in order to rebuild to new specifications. If your life is not changing, that means that you are not changing.
Faced with people and circumstances that cause tension, turmoil, pain, and suffering, I am forced to practice the principles that I assert. Situations, family, friends, environments, and communities are all classrooms in which I have been placed in order to grow. These comprise my education in life and of human nature.
There is a bigger picture, a broader context of life that cannot be seen by a limited perspective. Some things can only be seen by looking in the past: but for this, that would not have happened. At times, solace or explanation cannot be found by looking in the past, present, or future. We simply must trust the process, the journey, the Master Plan, the Way of the Universe – whatever we choose to call the constant progression of life.
In all of its manifestations, life begins, is, and ends. Physical life has birth, youth, adolescence, adulthood, old age and death. Embryo to ashes. Non-physical life undergoes a similar process, but cannot be as easily documented. A steadfast and persevering tree bends, but remains standing in the midst of blowing winds. It discards leaves in the fall and winter, and gives birth to new blossoms in the spring. Yet, the strongest tree can be felled by disease, fire, flood, or other external conditions.