Great Christian Pot

Think about what Paul told the Corinthians: 

"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 Cor 4:6-7).

Just try thinking of God lurking in a pot, and you’ve got the picture.  Should the pot attempt to be strong and capable, summon its mineral resources, and put on a show?  No.  It should take every opportunity to fall over.  It doesn’t have a mouth so it can’t invite anyone to take a peek inside.  It doesn’t have talent, so it can’t dazzle anyone enough to prove what’s there, and it certainly can’t defend itself against a hammer: “Boy!  We’ve given you a dozen whacks and you haven’t cracked.  God must live in there!”  It’s not that we actually are jars of clay, but figuratively speaking, we have one within us.  Now that God lives there, every knock and smack on us is an invitation—not to parade the pot, but to crack or tip over, letting out the treasure.  The whack on the pot will happen again and again (like it or not) because God loves to work through you and me.  We get delight (God is in me!) and others get the life of God.

"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. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you" (2 Cor 4:8-12).

Doesn’t this shed light on why things happen the way they do?  He’s moving us from one resource to another.  As He exhausts our natural, fleshly resources so we can live by faith, He is carrying on the sanctification of His sons and daughters.  God is orchestrating for your life and His life to meet!  When we know what He is doing, we can look through the temporary and visible circumstances and live by faith, finding the grace and energy of Christ in us.  We're set up for it.

How incredible is that?