I wonder if there's a connection between being willing to be broken by God and being willing to look foolish before man. I suspect there is. David's wife ridiculed him when he danced before the Lord. Abraham let God change his name from Abram, "exalted father" (which was already pushing it), to Abraham, "father of a multitude" (which surely cracked people up). Mary, in accepting the honor of bearing God's Son, was also accepting the burden of allowing her community to think of her as an immoral woman for the rest of her days.
I'm certainly not comparing my own foolishness with these holy acts of reverence and obedience. But I'm saying that what God calls us to involves either letting the world think we're foolish or letting the world know for sure we're foolish but have repented -- likely it will involve both. In God's eyes, being above making mistakes is not a credential. (I Corinthians 1:27)
I can't remember why, but a couple of nights ago I was looking up something related to Beth Moore. I happened upon a video compilation of all the talks in a series she called "Get Out of That Pit." (I won't post a link, in case there might be a copyright issue, but you can search for it online if you're interested.)
There are different kinds of pits, Beth says. Some we're thrown into; others we get ourselves into. Those who have been thrown into a pit by someone else's wrongdoing very often dig themselves a new pit as they're trying to deal with the fallout from the first pit.
I was so glad to hear her put the story of my adult life into words. It made me feel less alone and less ridiculous, knowing that getting further off course in trying to recover from abuse is a cycle that many people have experienced.
There's more I want to share about what God said to me through this message of Beth's, but I'm not sure I can verbalize it yet. Stay tuned.
Thank You, Lord, for using the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and choosing the weak things of the world to shame the strong. Thank You for all those, like Beth, whose brokenness before You becomes a tool of Your grace and healing.