Wednesday, February 6, 2013 -- How Much Is A Broken Treasure Worth?
The story circulated on the internet for some time about a water carrier in India. He had two large water pots, each hung on an end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots was perfect and delivered a full load of water each time. The other pot was cracked and only brought half a load. The good pot was proud that it carried a full load and the cracked pot felt sad and inferior. After a time the cracked pot apologized to the water carrier about this. The water carrier told the cracked pot to take note of the path where they walked every day. He pointed out that the flowers only grew on the side of the path where the cracked water pot hung. Water had dripped through the crack to water the earth and enable the flowers to grow. The carrier had noticed the flaw early on and had used it to bring beauty that would otherwise have been impossible. It’s no surprise to God that we have problems in our lives – even huge overwhelming ones. God’s invitation to us is to recognize these problems, admit that things are not manageable on our own, and turn to Him for a new perspective. We don't have to pretend to be perfect people living perfect lives. We get to be ourselves, even our fragile selves who, in the hands of our Loving God, are useful for more good than we could ever imagine.
Treasure is kept in clay jars. In the same way, we have the treasure of the good news in these earthly bodies of ours. That shows that the mighty power of the good news comes from God. It doesn’t come from us. We are pushed hard from all sides. But we are not beaten down. We are bewildered. But that doesn’t make us lose hope. Others make us suffer. But God does not desert us. We are knocked down. But we are not knocked out. We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies. In that way, the life of Jesus can be shown in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 NIRV) We may not experience it immediately, but the promise is there for us that God can make something good out of even the broken and confusing circumstances of our lives.
(God says): My gracious favor is all you need. My power works best in your weakness. (Paul replies): So now I am glad to boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may work through me. (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV)
We are powerless on our own to make good things happen. Our lives are unmanageable while we are still in our addictive habits. However, we are not beyond God’s ability to make something beautiful of us. With God all things are possible and He has the power to change us.
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens ... what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:1,4,5 NIV)Audio for Wednesday, February 6, 2013 -- How Much Is A Broken Treasure Worth?
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