Why is brokenness necessary?

I am at the end of the chapter in Evans's book.  Her conclusion answers this question.  She says that brokenness is the precursor to revival.  God takes us down to build us back up.  I've known this for awhile.  I've even said, in the past few months, as I deal with painful health issues, that I am closer to God through this trial than I ever was before.    Trials are only one of those things the book of James mentions as requiring perseverance; temptations are the other ones.  God uses whatever it takes to draw us nearer to Himself.

J.I. Packer writes in Knowing God: How does God in grace prosecute His purpose?  Not by shielding us from assault by the world, the flesh, and the Devil, nor by protecting us from burdensome and frustrating circumstances, nor yet by shielding us from troubles created by our own temperament and psychology; but rather by exposing us to all these things, so as to overwhelm us with a sense of our own inadequacy, and to drive us to cling to Him more closely."

I like the line Evans writes towards the end of the chapter: "He is not just out to make us whole -- He is out to make us holy."

And that is the answer to the question.