On Being a Clay Pot

Pots tend to crack or break if they are used. Many hazzards lurk around a pot that is taken from a glass enclosed display cabinet. It may get cracked when bumped against another pot, when used in the oven or placed in the freezer. It may get chipped or broken when dropped. But, there is no good use for the pot if it is only to be admired.

When the pot gets broken the pieces can get glued back together, but the cracks will still be visable. Notice I didn't say "if."

Jan, a dear friend of mine, once told me that we are "broken vessels." She went on to say that God's light will shine through the cracks in our "broken vessels."

2 Corinthians 4:6-9 "For it is the God who once said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' who has made His light shine in our hearts, the light of the knowledge of God's glory shining in the face of Jesus The Messiah.
But we have this treasure in clay jars so that it will be evident that such overwhelming power comes from God and not from us.
We have all kinds of troubles, but we are not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, yet not abandoned; knocked down, yet not destroyed."

I can certainly relate to that broken, cracked pot. Life is hard. No 'ifs,' 'ands' or 'buts' about it.

I do want the light of the God of love to shine through me. Sometimes I have to remind myself. Sometimes I totally forget. Sometimes another "crack" may appear and I will remember.

Ugh. Will I ever have my "clay pot" all together? I thank God often that He doesn't and won't ever give up on me. He keeps putting the pieces back together and He keeps on using me.

I have determined that each day I wake up, as long as I am alive for another day, I want to be used by God to touch the life of at least one person and be a blessing to another broken vessel; just like me!