All That I’m Cracked Up to Be

               ^"Yet we who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 GNT

            “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” Corinthians 2: 8-9 NIV

            The Apostle Paul considers us as fragile pots of clay; ordinary, run of the mill, weak pieces of earthenware susceptible to being chipped, cracked and even shattered at times. If you are living and breathing right now, chances are the sting of adversity has at some point left you feeling like a broken and useless pot of clay.  Perhaps your clay pot came crashing down by the death of a precious loved one or maybe it began during the difficult time of caring for them as they battled a horrible illness.  It could have been when you yourself were diagnosed with a debilitating disease (or maybe even 2 or 3) and realized how many limitations you would endure. Perhaps it was when you lost your job which you were good at, loved and thought you would have forever; taking along with it, your sense of financial security and self worth. Maybe there was a crack that started from a broken relationship, a troubled child, an addiction, a financial hardship, a never ending battle with weight, or even on the day you stepped back to examine your life and realized it looks nothing like the one you had so carefully planned out.

             Dealing with trials, disappointments and challenges sometimes make us feel as if we are simultaneously watching all of our hopes, plans and dreams go crashing onto the floor. The mayhem left behind barely resembles the pot we once envisioned ourselves to be; worthless at best.  A vessel unfit to hold worthless items of a lowly peasant and certainly not the treasure of the Most High King, yet the Bible tells us the opposite.  God chooses to place His most valuable Precious Treasure in a clay pot…hard to comprehend, but the very Presence of the Almighty God is placed inside of US! The King of all Kings is surely worthy of a flawless vessel of gold and silver to hold His Divine treasure yet He chooses us instead; feeble pots of clay that easily crack during the tribulations of life. Why in the world would He do such a thing?  So that He and He alone will receive the glory by making it evident the work being done is by the Power of God and not by the power of the vessel. He wants us to know our container is only made valuable by what it contains.

            You see, when a clay pot gets cracked they begin to pour out their contents. Likewise, when a weak human filled with the light of Christ, is hard pressed; perplexed; persecuted or struck down, they begin to pour out Christ.  On the other hand, if the vessel is never disturbed, the contents inside will just sit there. So that being said, if you have the light of Christ inside of you, being called a “CRACKED POT” is not a bad thing after all. Having cracks doesn’t mean God has forsaken us at all. Rather, it means that has trusted us to pour out His Treasure so that others may experience Him. God used Gideon; the least member of the least tribe of Israel to lead 300 men to triumph over 135,000 Midanites so there would be absolutely no doubt that the victory was God’s alone. However, the victory came to God’s people only after Gideon and his 300 men broke their clay pots allowing the lights held inside to brightly shine forth.  (Judges 7:20)

             As Christians, we shouldn’t be ashamed of our cracks or try to cover them up because doing so, could likewise cover up a ministry that God has planned for our lives. God’s glory is not revealed in spite of our human weaknesses but rather through them! As I live in a culture that is driven by high self esteem that was a hard concept for me to grasp and to be honest, something I still easily seem to forget.  I spent many years of my life trying to hide my illness from people because I didn’t want my weakness to automatically be equated with being damaged, useless or my all time favorite…“a high risk”.  I spent an endless amount of energy trying to prove that I was strong and “had it all together” but the truth is, the charade sucked up every last bit of energy I had; multiplying my cracks and thus making me sicker.  Eventually, my charade came to a screeching halt the day I was found unconscious on the floor at work and woke up in a hospital emergency room. My secret was out but to my surprise, as more people learned of my weaknesses; struggles and challenges they would come to me, not to pity or to belittle me but rather to find hope, support and encouragement with their own illness.

           The day my patch of pride was ripped off was the day that God initiated a new ministry for my life.  Through my exposed cracks, the hope and the light of Jesus was able to shine through on to other people who really needed a testimony that God will strengthen the weak, comfort the brokenhearted and heal the sick; a testimony that human weakness is opportunity for God’s Divine strength. Oh how it saddens me to think of the missed opportunities to be used by God to minister to others because my pride filled patch prevented me from doing so. Now there are people of this world who still look at me and see nothing but my weakness and brokenness but that’s only because they are choosing to look at me and well, if you choose to only look at my vessel, then I can guarantee you will be disappointed.  If you choose however to look beyond my cracks to see what is seeping out, you will understand that everything that I am able to do in this life is by the undeniable Power of Christ and not my own.

             As I watch my uncle battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease struggle and fight for His life, I see a clay pot  with more cracks right now than I can ever begin to count.  Yet God is showing me that every single leaking crack in His vessel has a purpose. They are watering seeds with Living Water and fertilizing them with the light of Christ; glorifying Him in ways we may never know of on this earth. In order to know this, you only have to speak to the people who surround him every day and stay at his bedside every night. The light shining forth from my uncle’s cracks are reflecting off of his family and I see them growing spiritually in a way that only comes from being exposed to the light of Christ.  

            Each of us has our own unique flaws so that God can use us to minister to each other. I need yours and you need mine. We are all “CRACKED POTS” but if we allow it, the Lord will use our flaws to bring Him glory and honor. I am not saying in any way that is an easy thing to do, but I have to believe that God has a purpose and plan for everything; often far beyond what I can see.  I have to believe that in God’s economy, nothing goes to waste as long as we depend on Him and not on ourselves. Not one single tear, not one ounce of pain, not one minute of suffering – NOTHING IS WASTED – that is what helps me plow through. You may look at your life today and say, “I am a ruined mess with too many flaws, too many hurts and way too many cracks.” You must remember that “cracked pots” become great weapons in the hands of God! I want to encourage you to not stay in pieces on the floor.  Allow the God of All Comfort to pick you up, mend you and use you as a portal for light that reveals His power at work to others.

            I pray I can boldly live my life knowing that no matter how severe my cracks may be that God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)  I want God to use my imperfect, flawed, “cracked pot“ to become a beacon for His light so that other broken people will see and be drawn to Him.

 …I want to be all that I have been cracked up to be!