Broken Clay

I recently read an article that triggered a memory of a lesson I used with my 6th graders one year. The kids were having a very difficult time using their words kindly, so I had them take a fresh piece of paper, crinkle it into a ball as tight as it would go, and then open it up and try to smooth out all the wrinkles and make it clean again. They couldn’t. And what I told them is that their words are like that to others. Every time they say something unkind to someone, they cause a wrinkle…and as hard as we may try to iron out the page again, there is still a mark that is left. Well, this article I read earlier this week brought that back to mind but in a different perspective and in the form of clay pots. Allow me to share…

For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of 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 Corinthians 4:6-7

I am a clay pot in my Maker’s hands. I started out with value and beauty, untainted by the world. But as time passed, life experiences slowly chipped away at me, leaving scuffs and small scratches. If those small scratches weren’t enough, I then experienced things that caused severe blows and broke pieces off. It left me aching for what once was…the little girl of my childhood who was carefree and pranced around the house in my bathing suit (I don’t know why!), royal robe (bathroom towel) and paper crown (laden with jewels), declaring to all my royalty. But now, broken, bruised and chipped by life, I had been left wondering where to go. Wondering how to pick up the pieces…

It was at the cross, where my Maker, carefully examined each tattered piece, familiar with each circumstance that caused it…and where He began to slowly restore this clay pot.

But as He restored, there were parts that were so crushed they left tiny holes. But Jesus, with His hands bleeding from my sharp edges, and His blood covering me, recreated this pot and left His blood stained fingerprints all over His new creation. And He lovingly put me back together…even left some of the holes that couldn’t be patched and with persistence He reminded me that it is in those holes where His beauty is shining through in the depth of my brokenness. His light can shine in the brightest in them. It is in my brokenness that His glory shines through, showing the world that nothing is too great for Him to overcome.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. ~Psalm 147:3

These imperfections caused by life’s difficulties are a thing of glory – if I let them reflect His light. They have caused me to fall at the foot of His cross, to empty myself out before Him and to allow Him to reconstruct who I am so that I may be used by and for Him.

And while I was trying to piece together my own pot, there were pieces that just wouldn’t fit like they used to and I desperately wanted to take them apart, sand them down and try to fit them in again. I realized that sometimes God does that with us. He will allow us to go through the same lesson twice, sometimes even more, so that we can be sanded down…even to the point of causing a little hole in our pot, just so His glory can shine through.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven. ~Matthew 5:16

And even though I am imperfect, I am a new creation in Him. And I can trade in my bathing suit, robe and paper crown for “…a crown of beauty…a garment of praise…” (Isaiah 60:3)…and ultimately for a “crown of life” (Revelation 2:10) as I spend eternity with my Maker, the King of Kings, the Great I AM.

...and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. ~1 Peter 5:4

(to see the article that sparked this... go here.)