From Broken to Blessing

[2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV] 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

What do you think when you hear the word “broken”?  Do you see images of shattered hearts, cracked bones, or betrayed trust?  On a positive note, might you consider Gideon’s broken jars of clay that let out the fire from the torches within, lighting the way to victorious battle (Judges 7:20)? What about the alabaster box that had to be broken so that the woman could pour the spikenard ointment on Jesus (Matthew 26:7)?  Don’t forget the outer shell on buried seeds of wheat that must be cracked open by the heat and humidity so that the life within can break forth (John 12:24).

    Scripture also paints us as a bunch of ordinary, very breakable clay pots, humble containers holding a cache of God’s “all-surpassing power” (2 Corinthians 4:7). The pot represents our outer shell, our natural way of thinking, choosing, feeling, and acting.  The “treasure” inside is the powerful, eternal life, the Holy Spirit, that entered us when we confessed our sin and our mess to Jesus and asked Him to live inside our hearts.  But for this powerful, resurrected life to pour forth, the jar of our natural self and ego must be broken.  Watchman Nee, a Chinese evangelist and Christian martyr of the mid-twentieth century, wrote that our focus should not be on obtaining the powerful life of Christ but instead on allowing His life to pour out of our clay jar.  He wrote:

“It is not that the life of the Lord cannot cover the earth but rather that His life is imprisoned by us. It is not that the Lord cannot bless the church but that the Lord’s life is so confined within us that there is no flowing forth. If the outward man remains unbroken, we can never be a blessing to His church, and we cannot expect the Word of God to be blessed by Him through us!”

The woman who anointed Jesus in Matthew 26 had her priorities straight.  Although the alabaster box was beautiful, she did not hesitate to break it, valuing the pure spikenard inside much more.  So, the questions we might ask ourselves are, “Do I treasure my importance, my appearance, my superior judgment, my bright brain, my way with words, my pile of pennies, or my set of rules, more than the life of Christ within me?  Am I an antique collector, a vase admirer, or do I want the fragrance of Christ within me released into the world?”

     For us to do the good God says is our purpose, our Abba, our Daddy-God has to break the clay of our old nature so that His light can shine forth to bless the world.  I confess that I sometimes become very ungrateful and uncomfortable when my Abba begins the process of breaking my pride, my misconceptions, my “stinkin’ thinkin’,” and my selfishness.  Defaulting to complaining when I don’t initially see how God can work my situation for good is a constant temptation.

    The key to responding to the brokenness that leads to blessing is to start each day with renewed surrender to a good, loving, just, and compassionate Father.  Watchman Nee prayed, “Lord, I offer myself without condition, without reservation, into Your hands.  Have your whole way through me.”  That prayer sustained him through twenty years of imprisonment until God released him by gathering this great preacher and writer to Himself in 1972.

   Will you let God break that tired, old, imprisoning shell of clay so that His mighty love and loving power can be released through you? Will you transform from being broken to being blessed? The timing of this life-long process is perfect for each of us, for God knows us well and will lovingly walk through refining fires with us.

Verses for Clay Pots:

• Proverbs 3:5-6
• Hosea 10:12
• 2 Corinthians 1: 8-10
• James 4:6
• Galatians 2:20
• Acts 20:24