Not always but it just seems to come so naturally (Rom 7:19) and one of his most powerful sayings, and by
my experience has proven to be true, “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt
him deeply.”
Many of the men who we minister which come out of prison have been deeply wounded, but this wound is
what they’ve done to others and before a holy God! They could phrase it “It is doubtful whether God can
use a man greatly until he has first wounded him deeply.” They often struggle to see the sufficiency of the
completed work of Christ at Calvary. In a sense, such humility and brokenness is good…but then, we must
move on after asking for forgiveness and being cleansed (1 John 1:9).
We don’t want these men tripping over what’s behind them and over that which has been removed as far as
the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). A.W. Tozer understood the depth of the grace of God which
washed over him like a flood…and on us too if God has brought us to repentance and trust in Christ.
These men’s pain can be used by God as means to save others, knowing of course that it is God alone Who
saves (Acts 4:12; Rom 10:9-13).
A.W. Tozer is one the most respected, intelligent, and biblically sound men that I have read and heard.
He knows about God and was passionate to make known the holiness of God and the attributes of
God. “The Knowledge of the Holy” is one of the shortest books you’ll read but it’s just incredibly
condensed with godly wisdom and insight into the Holy One.
Knowing as much as I do about Tozer, I believe this man would have been praying and weeping, on his face,
knowing the holiness of God and the terror of the Lord.
We can learn much about God when we read a lot from Tozer.
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