Today, we heard from Coach Hugh Freeze (former Head Coach at Ole Miss) as he shared his story of his fall and the grace he has experienced in his brokenness. Like a lot of us, Coach Freeze went to comfort and complacency. He had “it all” and took a lot of things for granted. Worldly comforts provided him no true reward but he let his guard down with devastating consequences. Through God’s grace, he is being restored and he took this opportunity to stand up in front of the family of faith and ask for forgiveness.
Even more powerful is the follow on later in the video from his wife, Jill Freeze, about how this season has impacted her and her walk with Christ. When this was revealed to her, she immediately went to her pain, her offended self and quickly, God steered her to “Jill, do you want to stay in the pain or go to the healing” and she made a shift. And, the more she went to God, the more it became about her sin, not Hugh’s. God had things He wanted to deal with in her through this pain which is usually the way it is in these broken times – God is usually up to something far more vast than we could have every imagined.
Coach Freeze says in here –
What I found in 2017, when my world fell apart, is that the faith I stand on in Jesus Christ as my Savior is a solid rock, a solid foundation. His love never changes.
There will come a point in life when you’ll need something bigger than self.
Integrity is not about “doing what is right”. It is when something is not done right, then owning it. It is being accountable for it. It is seeing it for what it truly is – my failure, my sin, my pride, my shortcomings. That integrity leads to confession and brokenness.
As you go along, and things go well, some false pride comes in, false security. Comfort. The lie I bought into was, “I can white-knuckle my way through it” and “I can be isolated”. It’s a lie. Don’t do it alone. That will take you down a road you don’t want to go. Confess it. Own it. Be willing to be broken.
and later he says –
The Devil wants you to stay where you are in defeat and as a “failure”. But failures are not final. You can move forward by the grace of God. You can have the mental toughness to get up every day and surrender again.
I cannot change what other people think or say about me. But, I can make up my mind. My mind is set. My eyes are clear. My heart is full. My feet are pointed forward and I look forward with thanksgiving for what God has given me.
You can finish well. You may have stumbled or failed but you can get up and finish.
Pride wants to keep you from that broken spot. Isolation from community does that too. It’s a sign of pride to say, “I can’t talk about that”. A lot of us were raised in churches where it was never really OK to say, “I’ve got a problem with this and I need some help.” And then guilt and shame set in and the only true way to freedom from that is brokenness.
I’ve struggled with why this private matter between Jill and I, that I thought I was dealing with in the right way, had to go out into the public eye. And the answer was so I could experience true brokenness and then use it for the Glory of God.
Brokenness is agreeing with God daily that anything that is outside the boundaries of me following Him, breaks His heart. That brokenness leads you to obedience.
Amen! Some of you reading this need to come clean. There are things in your heart you are hiding. There is a judgmental spirit, an offended self, resentments you’re carrying, unforgiveness that is eating you up or secrets you never want exposed. Those are breeding grounds for destruction via the enemy. He thrives in these dark places. It’s time to come clean and confess. For some of you, it may be you need to sit down with your spouse and open up. Maybe you’re not ready for that step and so, it may be you need your closest friends to hear what you’re struggling with. Certainly, it needs to go to the Father. Stop and confess. Open your heart and be willing to be totally broken. Give it to the Father. Leave it at the foot of the Cross where all mercy, grace and forgiveness were laid out for you.
Incredible freedom lies on the other side of brokenness.
Here is the actual video from our session this morning …
and here is the version from Liberty University. Fast forward to about 15 minutes in through the end of his talk and Jill Freeze starts talking at 41:50 in…
Deep Roots. Mighty Oaks. 