Episode 41: Broke, Not Broken

This week I am breaking the rules. Instead of showcasing one of the talks from the most recent General Conference, I will be sharing insights from a BYU Devotional presented by Elder L. Todd Budge. I happened upon this totally by accident, and I am so glad I did! And I knew immediately, that I needed to share Elder Budge’s message with all of you.

“When we have a broken heart, we are willing to put off the natural man and yield our will to God’s will, our will being swallowed up in His; or as President Nelson described it, we are willing to ‘Let God prevail.’” (Elder L. Todd Budge)

As he was pondering the relationship between putting off the natural man and having a broken heart, Elder Budge came upon a book written by a Christian horse trainer called, A Broke Heart -- not a broken heart but a “broke” heart. The author of the book explained that a wild horse that has been tamed is not broken by the process but conversely discovers the joy and freedom of becoming one with its master--a state that horse trainers refer to as being broke, not broken. 

The difference is subtle, yet so profound.

The goal of God is to redeem us and exalt us. To accomplish this, He has set the path before us--the covenant path. All of God’s covenants are designed to unite us with Him through the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ. 

Elder Budge was intrigued with the similarity between man and God and a horse and his trainer. So he decided to dig a little deeper to learn about the process a horse trainer uses to tame a wild horse and the parallels of how God works with us to redeem us. 

The horse trainer described four objectives in the training process:

1. Establishing direction -- The goal is for the horse to move its feet in the direction the trainer wants it to go. This is done by applying pressure, and by pointing, clucking, or slapping the ground. Sometimes the horse will buck and run wild--maybe even try to jump out of the round pen.
   
   In a spiritual sense, God stands in the center of our lives and tries to get our attention--and to get our feet moving. He wants us to start moving--to trust Him.
   

2. T“Giving the trainer two eyes.” The horse trainer wants the horse to give him two eyes, which is critical because when the horse does this, he leaves his hind legs--his only defense--vulnerable. This is when God has our full attention. This is when we seek His face (like we talked about in last week’s episode) or gain access to His presence. This is when we pray with full purpose of heart and real intent to know God’s will in our lives.
   

3. Change direction. The Lord invites us to do this daily -- moment by moment even. Repentance is about change -- lasting change. It’s about letting God prevail in our lives -- yielding our hearts to God with a willingness to move in the direction He requires.
   

4. Establish a place of rest. This takes place in the center of the pen. The horse comes to know that the closer it is to the trainer, the more rest and peace it will receive.
   
   The greatest rest we receive is the rest granted when we receive the gift of God’s grace and His atoning sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane. When we yoke ourselves to Christ, we are granted rest from the “yoke of bondage” caused by sin. We no longer answer the demands of justice because God’s mercy has satisfied the demands for justice on our behalf.

Do One Thing

Give God two eyes this week.

That’s it. Small and simple!

To listen to this episode on Spotify, iTunes, or another podcast platform, click here.

Resources

"The Ninety & Nine" -- Jeff Goodrich
"Broke Hearts & Contrite Spirits -- L Todd Budge
A Broke Heart -- Whitney Cartrite Huckabee

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