Repurposed Jars of Clay

Used with Permission by April White
http://redchairmoments.com

"I have become like broken pottery." (Psalm 31:12, NIV)

Recently I spoke with friend and writer, Patty Luellen Nichols. Knowing I am in a broken season, she shared this idea with me. I love craft projects.  But even if you aren't a craft person, you'll find this project therapeutic especially the smashing part.

Here's what you will need:

1. Clay pot
2. Permanent marker
3. Super glue
4. Hammer
5. Cookie sheet
6. Small candle
7. Safety glasses

What to do:

1. Before you begin, put on your safety glasses.
2. Begin by placing the pot on the cookie sheet (to contain the mess).
3. Using the hammer break the pot into several pieces, leaving the bottom in tack (very therapeutic!)
4. On the inside of each broken pottery shard, write a word that represents a broken area of your life (be honest).
5. Superglue the broken pieces back together (Don't worry about cracks or missing pieces).
6. Allow to dry.
7. Insert a candle and let the light shine through the brokenness.

The prophet Isaiah reminds us "We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand" (Isaiah 64:8, NIV). This concept of being in the potter's hands is of great comfort to me during a period of chronic illness and suffering.

There is a glitch in my genetic code causing my muscles to short-circuit. I've often joked about needing a fuse replaced. The truth is I am a marred pot. The same God who knit me together in my mother's womb (Psalm 139) has known about this quirk. Why is it showing up now? I do not know.

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 God's glory displayed 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, NIV)

God allows His light to shine through the broken areas of our life, displacing the darkness.

Paul's words possess rich implications for those in Christ. We are treasured jars of clay whose purpose is to display the light of Christ through our life. If our jars are perfectly intact a light placed inside the jar cannot be seen. If pretend our lives are perfect, no one can see God at work in us.

Ahh! But if our jars and our lives are marred, cracked, and broken, then the light of Christ can be on full display and shine though our brokenness for His glory!

The same hands that knit me together at conception are wrapped around me on the potter's wheel.

The potter is reshaping my heart and repurposing my life for His greater purpose.

Perhaps my glitch displayed at this time was His plan.

Even though I don't know how all this will turn out I am in the Potter's hands. Therefore, "It is well with my soul."