““The work of God’s Holy Spirit begins with bruising. In order to be saved, the hard ground must be plowed; the hard heart must be broken, the rock must be smashed. An old preacher said there is no going to heaven without passing close to the gates of hell, without a great deal of trouble for the heart and soul. I see the bruised reed as a picture of the poor sinner when God first begins his work on the soul. That person is like a bruised reed, almost completely broken and destroyed. There is very little strength left in him.””
