Jars of Clay
"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of the darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Cor. 4:6-7).
God chose to put the treasure of His presence and power in human vessels - jars of clay - fragile, easily cracked, plain. It doesn't make a lot of sense to minds that are trained to think of God as a perfectionist and His ministers as infallible. But I'm coming to learn something about Him - the weaker I am, the stronger He gets to be in my life.
It's entirely Biblical; Paul says the same thing in 2 Cor. 12:9-10. But it's one thing to read it. It's another thing to feel the weakness, see the inadequacies, know the failures - and experience that all-surpassing power coming out of you to touch someone else in spite of it all.
The fact is, my fragility makes Him look good. The fact that great big God can come out of ME is so ridiculous that it can only point out how truly awesome He is.
So, what's my point? Well, today it's this - there are areas of my life that I have to take responsibility for, like praying, being in the Word, listening for the Holy Spirit. But there are other areas of my life that I can do nothing about on my own; and He gets to choose how and when He deals with those.
I see things in my life that, if it were up to me, I'd definitely change before sending me out as a representative of Yahweh God. I mean, really! But - "Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important" (1 Cor. 1:27-28).
Why would He do such a thing? "As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God" (v. 29). So if my Father wants to take His time with me, if it pleases Him to go more slowly than I would choose. . . If those cracks and imperfections I see actually bring more attention and glory to my Father - how can I complain?
God chose to put the treasure of His presence and power in human vessels - jars of clay - fragile, easily cracked, plain. It doesn't make a lot of sense to minds that are trained to think of God as a perfectionist and His ministers as infallible. But I'm coming to learn something about Him - the weaker I am, the stronger He gets to be in my life.
It's entirely Biblical; Paul says the same thing in 2 Cor. 12:9-10. But it's one thing to read it. It's another thing to feel the weakness, see the inadequacies, know the failures - and experience that all-surpassing power coming out of you to touch someone else in spite of it all.
The fact is, my fragility makes Him look good. The fact that great big God can come out of ME is so ridiculous that it can only point out how truly awesome He is.
So, what's my point? Well, today it's this - there are areas of my life that I have to take responsibility for, like praying, being in the Word, listening for the Holy Spirit. But there are other areas of my life that I can do nothing about on my own; and He gets to choose how and when He deals with those.
I see things in my life that, if it were up to me, I'd definitely change before sending me out as a representative of Yahweh God. I mean, really! But - "Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important" (1 Cor. 1:27-28).
Why would He do such a thing? "As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God" (v. 29). So if my Father wants to take His time with me, if it pleases Him to go more slowly than I would choose. . . If those cracks and imperfections I see actually bring more attention and glory to my Father - how can I complain?
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