Book Recommendation | The Blessings of Brokenness by Charles Stanley

Broken. Blessed. How can those two words possibly go together? Considering just how shattering life's blows can be, can we honestly believe God will bring good out of our most heartbreaking crises? "It's difficult to discern the blessing in the midst of brokenness," says Dr. Charles Stanley. "Certain circumstances in life hurt, at times so intensely that we think we will never heal." The death of a loved one, the loss of a job, a lingering illness . . . the catalysts for brokenness all possess a wrenching pain and the power to forever alter our life. But they also possess one thing more: the potential for discovering a richness in living we otherwise never would know. "After brokenness, we can experience God's greatest blessings," say Dr. Stanley. "The dawn after a very dark and storm-wracked night is glorious. Joy after a period of intense mourning can be ecstatic." First, however, we must fully experience our brokenness and confront why God allows it. With gentle wisdom, Dr. Stanley shines light on the process of being broken. He reveals the ways we protest against it. And he gives us an inspiring look beyond the pain to the promise of blessing. Brokenness is what God uses to replace our self-life with his desires and intents for us, says Stanley. Its end is blessing far greater than we could ever discover apart from being broken. It's spiritual maturity and joyous intimacy with God. Greater depth and power in our ministry to others. New dimensions of freedom, strength, and peace. And a wholeness that comes as God himself reassembles us into someone more closely resembling Jesus Christ.