"For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:13
Of the many things that I fill my time with, only a couple of those things provide an income. One of my "schedule-fillers" includes a job at a faith-based nursing home in a community near my hometown. In the female locker room, there is a lone recliner for our use on breaks and before and after shifts. Besides this recliner is a shelf with a book titled "God Uses 'Cracked' Pots." (Author unknown to me) This title makes me chuckle when I see it. I really have very little idea about what the book is about, but it does remind me of a truth God revealed to me about a year ago.
I have made the habit of reading over old journals of mine about every half year or so. Would you be very surprised that I write alot and have lots to read through? :P The last week or so has brought me to one of those journal reading times again. I love seeing the clear growth in my life over the past year. I don't really recognize the girl who wrote on my behalf a year ago. It's incredibly encouraging to see the inner workings God has done, even if they are simple things that other people may not recognize or know about-- such as how I recognize and interpret God's voice and words to me, or my maturity in handling situations that affect my heart deeply.
I especially love when I read a spiritual truth I discovered that I had forgotten about. Such was the case with a journal entry I found from August 24, 2010, a month short of a year ago. It was about my ponderings on the verse above, Matthew 9:13b. Here is what I believe God spoke to me:
God is in the business of using used people. People who have cracks and stains, bumps and bruises, patched up and torn clothing, black eyes and swollen joints. He delights in the broken. The broken who know their own brokenness and look to him to redeem it.
In the Gospels (Matthew 23:27) God calls the Pharisee's "white washed tombs." Clean, neat, maybe even beautiful on the outside, but full of dead bones on the inside. Isn't that like so many people? Beautiful, put together and seemingly "more useful" people on the outside, but their character is poor and "dead" on the inside. Beautiful pots with little value for anything useful for God's kingdom.
As I blogged in a previous article, I have a problem with vulnerability, at times (though, recently I am learning!). When the cupboard is opened and the "jar" of my life is found sitting there, it is not prettily painted, unscathed or very delightful looking. It's got its fair share of cracks and wear marks. There are things about it that need to be sanded out or patched up. However, it seems God has choose to use it nonetheless. And the funny thing is, the more He uses me, the cracks do not get worse, nor do they disappear, but they are "re-enforced." Same with the markings, the wear marks begin to look more like art than randomness.
Jesus came to call the sinners. Jesus came to use the broken. Jesus came to make me useful. Without him, I might appear a beautiful china vase, but would be entirely useless and easily broken.
God uses "cracked-pots." God uses broken people. This includes me.
I especially love when I read a spiritual truth I discovered that I had forgotten about. Such was the case with a journal entry I found from August 24, 2010, a month short of a year ago. It was about my ponderings on the verse above, Matthew 9:13b. Here is what I believe God spoke to me:
"I don't want a bunch of vessels who are simply perfect pieces of art, I want cracked, scratched, broken vessels. They're the ones I know I can use. They realize their imperfections but they also realize it makes them more practical. And because of that, they are much more valuable to the Kingdom."Picture a used clay jar versus a new one. Which one are you going to use for the heavy-duty, everyday chores? Will you use the used, worn, possibly slightly damaged, yet durable one? Or will you use the brilliantly painted, fragile one your grandmother proudly displays in her china hutch? I don't know about you, but I would be quick to use the old one. Not much thought there.
God is in the business of using used people. People who have cracks and stains, bumps and bruises, patched up and torn clothing, black eyes and swollen joints. He delights in the broken. The broken who know their own brokenness and look to him to redeem it.
In the Gospels (Matthew 23:27) God calls the Pharisee's "white washed tombs." Clean, neat, maybe even beautiful on the outside, but full of dead bones on the inside. Isn't that like so many people? Beautiful, put together and seemingly "more useful" people on the outside, but their character is poor and "dead" on the inside. Beautiful pots with little value for anything useful for God's kingdom.
As I blogged in a previous article, I have a problem with vulnerability, at times (though, recently I am learning!). When the cupboard is opened and the "jar" of my life is found sitting there, it is not prettily painted, unscathed or very delightful looking. It's got its fair share of cracks and wear marks. There are things about it that need to be sanded out or patched up. However, it seems God has choose to use it nonetheless. And the funny thing is, the more He uses me, the cracks do not get worse, nor do they disappear, but they are "re-enforced." Same with the markings, the wear marks begin to look more like art than randomness.
Jesus came to call the sinners. Jesus came to use the broken. Jesus came to make me useful. Without him, I might appear a beautiful china vase, but would be entirely useless and easily broken.
God uses "cracked-pots." God uses broken people. This includes me.
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