2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
Is it really what it is?
“Nothing paralyzes our lives like the attitude that things can never change,” wrote the noted Christian author, Warren Wiersbe. Wiersbe continued, “If we see only the problems, we will be defeated.” From my perspective, we can hardly help seeing anything else but problems and our helplessness. We let our inability to change things come to be our excuse. How many times have I uttered the words to myself, “It is what it is?” Too often! We need not look any further than the state of politics in the United States. Our one vote seems so feeble. The campaigns seem so powerful. When Paul wrote his second letter to the Christians in Corinth, the readers were aware of their weakness. Paul’s image of Christians being “jars of clay” is quite appropriate. John W. Riggs, former Professor of Historical Theology and Church history, at Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis, MO, Riggs wrote, “Unlike glass containers, which the ancients could melt and recast, earthen vessels (jars of clay) were fragile and, once broken, were gone.” God has a plan. God takes our fragile lives, jars of clay, broken as they are, and makes them a channel for God’s power in the world. By that power, God can make changes. We forget God’s awesome power and allow ourselves to become paralyzed. Have you become paralyzed, perhaps accepting your situation with words like above, “It is what it is?” It does not have to be what it is. Though we are broken jars of clay, God’s awesome power still works through us. As Riggs wrote, “the power belongs to a great God, and we, in contrast, bear this power in frail, earthen vessels. We are powerless on our own, but we bear the great power of God in Christ. We can become paralyzed when we forget that. If it is the will of God, it will be done. It will be done through us, God’s broken jars of clay.
In Christ,
Steve
“Nothing is impossible for the people of God who trust in the power of God to accomplish the will of God.” David Platt, American evangelical Baptist pastor
Stephen L. Hodges © 2024