If you’ve followed my blog at all you’ve probably gathered that I can be a pretty sensitive and emotional guy. At times throughout my life that has been a source of intense shame and frustration for me. Often I’ve felt like I don’t fit in the world of “real” men. I like music, art and creativity. I’m not that of an great athlete, I don’t like to talk about sports that much and I don’t hunt or fish.
I’ve blogged in the past about how God can use our areas of weakness and for the longest time I have thought that being emotional and sensitive is a huge weakness of mine. But recently I believe God has been challenging me to both broaden my view of what it means to be a man and also to see the version of a man that he has made me to be as a strength.
John Eldredge says ““It is out of your brokenness that you discover what you have to offer. When we begin to offer not merely our gifts but our true selves that is when we become powerful. “
This has definitely been a place of brokenness for me but it is also my “true self.” A former pastor of mine used to say, “God doesn’t make junk.” I’ve often thought that God made a mistake when making me this way and wished he made me more like “normal” guys. But today I’m claiming that I’m not junk and neither are you! God made us the way we are and wants to use all of us, even, or especially our places of brokenness to help others.
No matter what your places of brokenness are, I believe God wants to redeem them. He wants to not only heal them so we can live more fully but to use that experience to help other people.
God has already healed many parts of me and used them to help people and he is still working on healing and redeeming my view of masculinity. For me writing about it is part of the redemption process. Putting it out there in the world sort of takes some of the power out of it. It is less in my head that way. It also opens the door for me to be encouraged by others and to hopefully encourage some people who may be experiencing the same thing.
What is your greatest place of brokenness right now? What would it take to bring that to God and trust him with it? To trust that not only does he want to heal it but use it to help and encourage others? If you haven’t already, I challenge you to take it to God in prayer asking him to heal you. I also encourage you to tell someone you trust about it so they can walk along side you. Open yourself up to help and to encouragement for your sake and also for the sake of others.
Thanks for sharing this Nate. This is part of my journey too and I have come to believe that our world needs us to be who God created us to be not how our culture may define us.
Thanks for sharing Dale. It is great to be able to relate to others who deal with the same things. We are stronger together.
Your blog post brought tears to my eyes coming from a place of such joy in seeing you living out your identity in God! I’m very proud of you. That’s a real mom thing to say, but it is so true. I am blessed because I know, I can read in your blog posts, you have a living relationship with God. He is doing miraculous things in and through you. Living life from a place of our true selves is not easy. It takes tons of courage and trust. But our true selves are infused with the image of God. That is what our world, the world we touch each day, needs to see. The other day I sensed God saying to me, “your sensitivity is what brings wholeness to situations you are in.” I think that can apply to you, too, Nate. Love you!