Brokenness is God's requirement for maximum usefulness

{taken from Charles Stanley's Life Principles Bible}

Life Principle 15

"It has been said that a soul is converted in a moment of time, but becoming a 'saint' takes a lifetime. In other words, our conversion to faith happens instantly; however, in order to bring us to maturity, the Lord must break us over and over again.
All too often I see Christians struggling to amass a long list of accomplishments - perhaps they hope to hand the Lord their resume someday, saying 'See what I've done for You?'
However, God oftentimes works through our brokenness by discarding rather than accumulating. He calls us to shed this, toss that, purge ourselves of a particular trait or habit, and repent of certain desires or goals. He want us to dispose of all 'self' until we can truly say, 'All that I am and all that I have is God's.'
What comes to mind when you think of being broken? Ask yourself, What is the Father stripping away from my life? What's blocking my total surrender to Him? What do I trust or love more than Him? The Lord's breaking process will eventually produce spiritual maturity - and we aren't useful in ministry until some of our fleshly 'rough edges' have been worn off through suffering. In that way, we become a valuable tool in God's hand to bring others to wholeness.
Remember, the Lord didn't remove the 'thorn' from Paul's life, yet He did help his servant understand why the trial was allowed to persist. After receiving an amazing revelation, the apostle was given a difficult hindrance to keep him from developing pride - the purpose of the 'thorn' was to humble him and make him rely solely on Christ (2 Cor. 12:1-10).
Brokenness is a sign of the Lord's love and activity in your life. He will break your self-reliance because He loves you deeply and knows that, left on your own, you would yield to pride and selfishness. Any discipline experienced in such hard times in God's way of preparing you for future service. While none of us enjoy going through heartache or adversity, it helps to know that God has one purpose in mind for such seasons: spiritual victory (Heb 12:11). Only Jesus Christ can take your weakness and turn it into strength, hope, and honor. Will you trust Him to change your life?"

This was an encouragement to me....especially the last part, where I was reminded that God wants only 'victory' for us.....that helps me to rest in difficult times, knowing that as long as I surrender to Him and His Word, then the victory will eventually come.