Cracked, Flawed and Damaged

     I decided a long time ago I wanted to carry Jesus with me everywhere I went.  At age 6, I gave Jesus my heart and invited Him to live in and through me.  I didn’t know back then what all that meant, I just knew I wanted it.  But as I’ve grown and cultivated my relationship with Jesus, I understand a little more about what that means.  Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:7 says it best.  “We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure.  This shows that the great power is from God, not from us.”  This is saying we carry the gospel treasure, Jesus, where ever we go.  The important thing is not the container, but the contents.  Our containers are just cracked pots, but the contents of our damaged pots make all the difference.
     My sophomore year of high school, I walked into the last gym class I would have that semester before the Christmas break.  All the bleachers were pushed against the wall, but our gym teacher told us to climb up to the top and sit down.  A few intermittent bleachers on the way up were pulled out a couple of inches to allow us to get to the top.  He said that he was going to call us down one at a time and give us an exercise that we had to do in front of the whole class.  How well we performed that exercise would be our mid-term grade.  I was already very nervous about this because at 15 years of age, I never felt like I measured up to much in the athletic department.  I was overweight and not very agile at all.  I was also notorious for not tying my shoes.  The coach called my name to come down for my exercise performance and grade.  I stood up, at the top of the bleachers, and when I did, unbeknownst to me, I was standing on the shoestring of the foot that was trying to take a step down.  Needless to say, I tripped and fell 6 feet, face first, onto the hard, wooden gym floor in front of 3 high school gym classes.
     2 Corinthians 5:17 tell us “Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person.  The past is forgotten and everything is new.”  As a 15 year old girl, how was I going to be able to face my classmates without replaying this scene in my head and focusing on the new crack I just sustained in my clay jar?  I couldn’t really figure out back then that I needed to focus on what’s inside that jar; the contents, the power, the treasure that was within me.  I desperately needed a reminder in that moment, as I lay breathless on the cold floor.  I needed someone to tell me I could rebound because of the power that was inside me.  To remind me I had Jesus in my heart and therefore was a new person. My past had been forgotten.  But I was too embarrassed to move.
     “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.  We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.  We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.  We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9.  I did not want to get up off the floor.  I just wanted to lay there and somehow sink into that floor and disappear forever.  But when the coach saw that I was breathing again, he yelled out very loudly for the whole gym to hear “Great job Ginger!  That was the most perfect swan dive I’ve ever seen!  You get an A plus!”  In that moment, as the coach smiled down at me, I decided I could persevere because the contents within me would be my power and strength to help me rebound, get up and face my peers. 
Listen to this resume of Paul’s.
“I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number and faced death again and again.  Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes.  Three times I was beaten with rods.  Once I was stoned.  Three times I was shipwrecked.  Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.  I have traveled on many long journeys.  I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers.  I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles.  I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas.  And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not.  I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights.  I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food.  I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.  Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:23-28.
     Tell me, why didn’t Paul just give up and go back home and start making tents again?  Paul knew he could rebound because of the power that was inside him.  He knew what he was doing by going on these missionary journeys’ and sharing the gospel of Christ, was bigger than he was.  What he was doing was life changing and lifesaving, so he persevered and tapped into the power of Christ.
     I really want you to think about how you’re going to rebound when you get discouraged.  Discouragement will happen.  How are you going to handle it?  Will you try on your own or will you tap into the power that is within your cracked pot?  For me, my flawed pot is just temporary, so I’m going to tap into the power of Christ that lives within me.  
     My coach reached down, grabbed my hand and helped me to my feet.  The whole gym applauded.  And I received an A plus in gym for the first time ever.
     Jesus, please remind my friends of your words and promises when they are feeling pressed on every side; when they are perplexed; when they get knocked down.  Show them how to rebound by tapping into Your power.
(*Note:  I remember my Pastor Bob preaching on this years ago.  Thank you for being a vessel for Christ.)

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