I used to have this therapist that talked about gifts in a
ditch, and she said there's some things in life that are really
good, right? But they come with a ditch, they
come with a slippery slope that takes that something from being
good to being a problem that you can't even see as a problem.
And sometimes when we understand our identity in Christ and we
hear the things he says that we are, it can be easy to take that
gift and slide into a ditch because we we live in a culture
that really values productivity. What are you producing?
How is what you are and what you have and what you know, creating
something other people can consume.
And I had found myself running into this performance
relationship with the Lord on a level that I couldn't really see
my deepest identity of few months ago would have been I am
the daughter of the King. If somebody were to ask me and
whoever asked this question, but you know, if somebody were to
ask me, who are you, my truest honest to God answer would have
been I'm the daughter of the King of glory.
And I didn't really realize that with that identity for me came a
performance to always know, to always do, to always have
something to show other people that they would value and and to
use the authority in him to make the changes I felt I needed.
And I always had this kind of deep feeling of pressure, like I
have to show that I'm the daughter of the King of glory.
And I and as I went through a season of breaking, he changed
my identity. And now I would say my truest
identity is I'm the object of his love.
And it doesn't matter if he's using me in great ways or I'm in
the valley of the shadow of death with the Lord and, and
nothing makes sense and everything is horrible.
I'm still the object of his love and the circumstances in life
are really only to my benefit, whether they feel like it or
not. And the Lord said to me one
time, and I was mad when he said it now.
So don't think that the truth doesn't first make you mad
'cause it often does. He said, Carly, just be the
broom. And I was like, Lord, but you
said that this is my inheritance and that's what I'm supposed to
do. And I don't know how to do any
of those things. I don't know how to make any of
that real in this realm. I don't know how to.
You said you sent me to nations, to prophecy, but what nations?
Listen to me over here in the corner of cold, frozen
Minnesota. How is that like?
I understand and I believe you, Jesus, but I don't see how that
has feet on the ground. It's all just this pie in the
sky thing. And his answer to me was be the
broom. And I remember wrestling with my
husband about this because he got the revelation and I didn't.
I was mad about it. And he was like, look, you have
to just rest. You have to surrender.
You have to lay down all the things you think you need to be
doing from moment to moment and just be.
Just be in surrender, be in Sabbath, be in rest with the
Lord. And I was like, fine, I'll just
be the broom. And I was mad about it.
But after my my pride took a back seat and I leaned into that
surrender of being the broom, I realized how how much richness
there is in being willing to be something that it doesn't have
any glory of its own. The broom doesn't have any glory
of its own. Nobody's like comes in someone
else's house and goes, wow, that is a nice broom.
Like the broom is in the closet until you have to sweep
something up. But when you have to sweep
something up, you don't want nothing but that broom.
But that's how the Lord teaches us humility.
That's how our identity ends up having feet.
It's always the foolish things to confound the wise.
It's always the dark places in life where you find His
goodness. It's always that brokenness in
which you find His richness. And it's always in being that
honorless vessel where you find the most honor.
So if you're looking at your life and you've heard the Lord
say all these wonderful, awesome, amazing, super true,
absolutely wonderful things that you're supposed to do and you're
supposed to be and you're supposed to possess and exhibit
and bless the world with and da da, da.
And, and, and you're like pushing and striving and trying
to do the things. Honey, just be the broom.
When the Lord needs you to act in a place, he'll take you out
the prayer closet, the crying closet, the place where you meet
Him, and He'll use you for that mess.
He'll use you for that spot and then go back in the closet with
Jesus. Be the broom.
There's no pressure on being the broom.
The broom is not the vase holding the flowers.
The, the broom is in the closet with Jesus until there's a mess
that He needs you to clean up and then He calls you out and
you do the thing and you go back into the place with Him.
But you're always just the broom and that's OK.
That is actually wonderful because you know who gets the
glory when he uses the broom? He does.
And there is such richness in
humility. The only thing the Lord can
clothe with His glory is humility.
It is the humbleness of your soul, the brokenness of your
heart. It's not in the accolades, it's
not in the titles, it's not in the identities that other people
are astonished by. It's in being willing to be the
broom. Those who want to be the
greatest have to become the last.
Jesus came and was a servant to everybody.
Even though he was the king who made everything, He was a
servant to everyone. And it's such a broken place.
It is a broken place to realize you have to be the broom, honey.
You have to be the servant. You don't have to be the
doormat. He never said come over here now
and be the doormat. He said.
Come into my rest. It's not about striving.
It's about resting. It's about humility.
It's about service. It's about feeling the honor
bestowed upon you when the Lord calls you to be in a place and
do a thing and say a word, even if nobody else sees it but Him
and that other person in you. It's an honor to be used by the
Lord, even if you are just the broom.
I tell you the the broom, the broom is a vessel of honor.
Be the broom. Music.
Music.
The.