Jars of Clay

2 Corinthians 4: 7-11 -  But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  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. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

Pottery….it begins as a raw slab of ugly…wet…clay.  Someone very skilled takes it and applies pressure…pinches it….pulls it…turns it into something useful.  It is allowed to dry….then the most useful…more beautiful pots are painted with a glaze…then put in a very hot fire….so the materials in the glaze can melt…and form a protective barrier from the things it will be asked to carry in it.  The end result…a shiny…beautiful vessel…useful to whoever buys it.

Paul knew well the jar of clay that God had molded him into.  Everyday that he was persecuted….beaten…ridiculed for what he believed….his jar of clay became more beautiful. The glory of God radiated from Paul….because he knew that when we submit our Earthly weaknesses to God….God takes over and makes us strong.  The master potter is at work in all that believe in him…..molding our fragile Earthly…worldly bodies into strong vessels that show his glory in all that we do.

I love the promise that this scripture gives us.  If we but yield to God….throw all our cares to him…release the tendencies to fix things our self…his power will start to teach us how to depend on him. Like Paul…we will learn how to withstand pressure from the world….and not be crushed….we will look at the moments of life that totally baffled us…and not despair….we will endure those moments of ridicule ….and smile in contentment. 

Paul sums it up later in verse 15-18, “ All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Father…I thank you for the words you gave to Paul.  Help me to yield to you this day and allow you to mold me with the pressures of this world…help me to learn from the many things that have happened in my life that I have no answers for.  I give myself to you ….all the raw clay …and ask for strength to wait for you to make me a vessel…a beautiful jar of clay…overflowing with the love you have shown me…able to encourage others…able to witness for you and help others believe. Thank you for not only buying me with your son’s blood on that cross…but taking my rawness….and shaping it into something useful for you! Amen.