William Earnest Henley "Invictus" (Unconquered)
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
WRONG!
Brokenness is NOT a crushed spirit - it is a voluntary, willful surrender to our Father/Creator who loves us, is for us, not against us, and knows, better than we, what is best for us.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Augustine
Give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt.
François Fénelon, Meditations on the Heart of God
Oh Lord, I know not what I should ask of Thee: Thou only knowest what I need and Thou lovest me more than I can love myself. Oh Lord, give to me Thy child, what is proper, whatsoever it be. I dare not ask either for crosses or comforts; I only present myself before Thee and open my heart to Thee. Behold my needs of which I am ignorant and do according to Thy mercy, smite or heal, depress or raise me up. I am silent. I offer myself in sacrifice; I abandon myself to Thee; I have no more any desire but to accomplish Thy will. Amen.
Martin Luther
God created the world out of nothing; so as long as we are nothing, he can make something out of us.
John Flavel The Fountain of Life Opened Up
Christ says; "All I have is yours", and we say: "Though my person is vile, and not worthy of being accepted, but such as it is, it is yours. My soul with all and every faculty; my body, and every member of it; my gifts, time, and all my talents are yours."
Thomas Manton The Lord's Prayer Matthew 6:10 "Thy will be done"
The great contest between God and us is whose will shall stand: God's will, or ours?
Thomas Brooks The Unsearchable Riches of Christ
Lord, keep down my sins, and keep up my heart to honour you in all my troubles. Though my burdens are doubled and troubles multiplied, help me to honour you by trusting, waiting and submitting to you, and I shall sing my cares away and say, it is enough.
John Wesley
I am no longer my own, but Your’s. Put me to what You will; rank me with whom You will. Put me to doing; put me to suffering. Let me be employed for You or laid aside for You. Let me be full; let me be empty. Let me have all things; let me have nothing… I truly and heartily yield all things to your pleasure and disposal.
Samuel Rutherford The Loveliness of Christ
The great Master Gardener in his wonderful providence has planted me in this part of His vineyard by His grace, and here I grow and abide till He thinks it fit to use me or transplant me. Let us be faithful and care for our own part, which is to do and suffer for him, and lay Christ’s part on himself, and leave it there. Duties are ours, events are the Lord’s.
George Swinnock
Whatsoever you deny me, or howsoever you deal with me, give me yourself, and it shall be enough.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson "In Memorium"
Our wills are ours, we know not how;
Our wills are ours, to make them thine.
Horatius Bonar
Thy way, not mine, O Lord, however dark it be. Lead me by Thine own hand, choose out the path for me. I dare not choose my lot; I would not, if I might. Choose Thou for me, my God, so I shall walk aright. The kingdom that I seek is Thine: so let the way that leads to it be Thine, else I must surely stray. Not mine, not mine the choice in things great or small. Be Thou my guide, my strength, my wisdom, and my all.
Thomas Case A Treatise of Afflictions
What God wills, when God wills, how God wills; your will be done (in my life) as it is in heaven.
C.H. Spurgeon
I would be nothing but what he makes me, I would have nothing but what he gives me, I would ask nothing but what he promises me, I would trust in nothing but what he has done for me, and I would desire nothing but what he has prepared for me.
Rowland Williams Psalms and Litanies: Counsels and Collects, for Devout Persons
Give what Thou seest fit, and fit us for what Thou givest.
Henry Martyn
Lord, let me have no will of my own, or consider my true happiness as depending in the smallest degree on anything that can befall me outwardly, but as consisting altogether in conformity to Thy will.
William MacDonald
The brokenness of spirit which makes no resistance to the Father’s hand is a main element of fertility in souls wherein He works. It is not power He seeks from us, but weakness; not resistant force, but ‘yieldingness’ to Him. All power is His: His strength is perfected in weakness.
T.L. Cuyler
Oh, how often our all-wise Master puts us into a deep pit of trial, to subdue our pride, or to tame our passions, or to break our stubborn self-will. Blessed is he who can look up into the countenance of Jesus, and honestly say: "Master, my rebellious self is dead, that Thou mayest live in me, and that I may live for Thee and Thee alone."
A.B. Simpson
The first step to the righteousness of the kingdom is poor in spirit. The next is a little deeper, they that mourn. Because now we must become pliable, we must be broken, we must be like the metal in the fire which the Master can mold. It is not enough to see our unrighteousness, but deeply to feel it, deeply to regret it, deeply to mourn over it, to consider it no little thing that sin has come into our lives.
And so God leads us into His righteousness. He usually leads us through testings and trials. I do not think it necessary for us to have deep and great suffering before we are saved. He will put us into the fire when He knows we are saved, when we realize we are accepted, when we are not afraid of the discipline, when we know it is not the hand of wrath but the hand of love. Then God can take us down and make us poor in spirit, and make us mourn until we come to the third step, which is to be meek, broken, yielded, submissive, willing, surrendered and laid low at His feet crying, "What wilt thou have me to do?"
God does not need to strike us in a hundred places to inflict a death wound (to self). There is one point that touches the heart and that is the point God usually strikes. It will likely be the dearest thing in our lives, the decisive thing in our plans, the citadel of our wills, the center of our hearts. And when we yield there, there is little left to yield anywhere else.
A.W. Tozer The Set of the Sail
If the Lord is to save the man, He must save him from himself.
“My Times Are In Thy Hand” Psalm 31:15 William F. Lloyd
http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/m/t/i/mtimesar.htm
My times are in thy hand;
My God, I wish them there;
My life, my friends, my soul, I leave
Entirely to thy care.
My times are in thy hand;
Whatever they may be;
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to thee.
My time are in thy hand;
Why should I doubt or fear?
My Father's hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.
My times are in thy hand;
Jesus the Crucified;
Those hands my cruel sins had pierced
Are now my guard and guide.
F.B. Meyer
If you cannot say "Thy Will be done," say: "I am willing Father to be made willing that Thy Will should be done."
"Lord, I know not what is before me, but Thou knowest. Choose Thou my portion for me. Lead me by Thine own hand; and keep me close to Thee, day by day, and night by night."