Treasure in Clay

But we have these treasures in jars of clay to show the all-surpassing power is from God and not from us (2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV).

My demitasse decorated with oranges and blues and highlighted in gold had once been mere dirt, molded, painted and fired specifically to hold Turkish coffee. After I drank my coffee this morning, I noticed the cup had a hairline fracture. It held the coffee just fine, but an almost invisible line reminded me I had dropped it in the sink yesterday.

Though I enjoy these pretty cups, my most important reason for holding, washing, and trying to keep them safe is to enjoy my coffee. Coffee with Scripture. Coffee with my husband or with other loved ones. It's the coffee that's important to me!

Like the clay pots in this verse, we were designed by God to hold amazing treasure. We've been hit by life: divorce, financial shortfalls, wayward children, health surprises, untimely death. The fracture lines they bring are actually occasions for us to discover God's amazing power. No other power is more powerful, even though we might reel with pain. God's Spirit, present and more powerful, transforms each trauma if we let Him. What we thought would have killed us, made us better.

Because the presence of Jesus Christ transforms each trauma, we can still carry the rich tasting, robust smell of God's power. We could have been thrown away or set on a back shelf, but the One who has the power to transform works in us, revealing more and more of God's glorious power.

That's clearly not our own doing.

For Your Consideration

Read and meditate on 2 Corinthians 4:6-9.

How have you found God's power greater than your traumas, helping you heal?

What helps you experience  Christ's transforming presence when life gives you a jolt? What keeps God's presence at bay at such times?

Will you rejoice in God's desire to indwell you, His treasured vessel?