A Pastor’s Perspective

“Cracked Pots” by Mike Hill, pastor of Calvary Chapel Aberdeen (mjhill@ida.net)

My wife makes up for our combined gardening skills with two green thumbs.  I’m just the gopher.  Literally.  When she needs holes dug or gardens tilled, I’m there.  Beyond that, she does most of the work.  She loves it. 

However, there are certain parts of the horticulture experience she’s not too enthused about.  Weeds.  Broken sprinklers.  Cracked pots.  The first two are obvious downers.  But what do cracked pots have to do with gardening?  Some of her plants and flowers are thriving in flower pots.  If a pot is cracked, the plant is less manageable—it may even fall apart completely and the treasured plant will die.  The opposite is true when it comes to our relationship with the Lord.

The Bible describes believers as “jars of clay.”  And, there’s a treasure in our jar of clay.  Not a flower, but the living presence of Jesus within our hearts.  The treasure of “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ…we have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2Corinthians 4:6b-7a). 

Normally, a cracked pot or a broken earthen vessel would be a bad thing.  But, from a spiritual perspective, in order for others to view the treasure of Jesus through our lives, we need to be cracked pots so His glory can shine through.  In other words, we won’t necessarily experience the power and presence of Jesus when everything is going smooth.  People won’t see His glory emanate through us when we can “pull up ourselves with our own bootstraps.”  The light of His glory shines brightest when things pull apart at the seams of our lives and we become desperately dependent upon Jesus for everything, “that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us” (2Corinthians 4:7b).

Paul described that the only way the treasure can be displayed is through cracked pots.  Consider Paul’s circumstances that caused the power and presence of Christ to break through:

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit.  We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.  Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies”  (2Corinthians 4:8-10 NLT).

Next time you’re at your wit’s end.  When everything seems like it’s falling apart and you feel like a cracked pot.  Don’t give up—give in…to the Lord Jesus.  Tap into the treasure of His grace and allow Him to shine through your brokenness.  The Bible promises that, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalm 34:18).

Let the Master Gardener tend your life, prune and care for you with His loving expert hands.  Your fruitful life will become the treasure to display the glory of God’s grace.