Tag: clay

unadorned cracked pot

Karla Lees

We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives.

2 Cor 4:7a MSG

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

2 Cor 4:7 NIV

But this beautiful treasure is contained in us – cracked pots made of earth and clay – so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us.

2 Cor 4:7 The Voice

This past few weeks have been ones where a few more of my cracks seems to have become wider gaps.

I feel stretched.

As the Potter’s hand works on clay, He keeps needing to wet the clay in order to reshape it.

When i stop seeking His living water, I get too dry.

And cracks form in my pot as it hardens.

The good news?

God can soften hard pots.

But it leaves cracks behind.

I heard a story about a young gal who had to carry water in a cracked pot back & forth, day in and day out. By the time she got home there wasn’t the amount of water she started out with.

Long story short, beautiful flowers appeared on the side of the road where the water had been dripping, day after day.

God never wastes, not one single drop, from our cracks.

I have often wondered if I didn’t have the flaws & foibles I had if God would use me as much….because i suspect i wouldn’t feel the need for Him as acutely as I do throughout my days.

Today, I felt the cracks, after a few days of God soaking & spinning & pressing & smoothing.

I know how much I need Him, the more He sets me free & guides me.

To Him, I am chosen.
To the world, I appear a pudgy married mom of two young adults, with curly red hair & glasses, with a zany sense of humour, who loves words, tea and right now in this cold spell, her heating pad. 🙂

An unadorned cracked pot.

Yet God chooses to use me…

I know that when I have met someone who radiates Jesus, I don’t pay as close attention to their cracks or flaws….I see Jesus pouring out through them.

That’s my heart’s desire.

To be cracked in all the right places for Jesus to shine through me, so although I am humble clay, the Almighty can use me for His glory.

image

The Good News Message for us all?

God can use all of us, despite our cracks, chips & holes.

It’s about our availability, our holding out our hands to be filled, not about our capability.

It’s about His ability, to use the cracked, broken & lowly to shoe the world just how loving, graceful, kind, mighty & powerful He really is!

I’m a cracked pot, how about you?

cry of the broken

Karla Lees

You hear the cry of the broken,
You hear the cry of the broken,
You hear the cry of the broken…

You answer the cry of the broken,
You answer the cry of the broken,
You answer the cry of the broken…

–Darlene Zschech,
Your Name/Cry of the Broken

image
Feeling broken?
These past few days I have.
But not broken as in I feel like I am shattered beyond repair kind of broken.

Broken by Him, for Him.

I know God is close to the broken, for I was one puzzle pile of mess when He picked me up out of the pit I had dug myself into, cleaned me up & called me Beloved.

God is close to all those of us who desperately need Him to put us back together.

Jesus became God with us to show us all how broken we are without Him.

But there is another kind of broken I am referring to.

Being broken for His purposes.

I recently heard about a course being offered at my former university. Like many of you, I did not complete my degree. I began my family, hubby lost his job & we had to relocate all within a brief period of time.

Now I love learning, so it made sense to try and go back when I was able about 6 years ago. I took two courses and loved it.

Then hubby hurt his back, had the first of two surgeries, i switched jobs, and child number one started university.

Child number two has recently decided to work next year and take some time to figure out which of two paths to take ahead.

Back to the course I found…It is a dream course for me, and hubby gave me his blessing to audit it, and I got the days booked off to take it.

So off to the university I went yesterday to apply. I met with the admissions counselor, and because this course falls within course requirements for a different program than I was in when I was there before, I grew excited about the possibility of finishing my degree as we chatted.

Then I saw the program outline, and my heart sank. I would need to add another year to do so, and the cost when I already have one at university? A mild panic and huge disappointment simultaneously rose within me.

And then God whispered to me:
You don’t need to finish this degree. I have qualified you to do what I have called you to accomplish, and I am using you. You don’t have to look back with regret anymore. I am enough.

My heart broke at the kindness and love in those words….

And I realized that I had been disqualifying myself because I didn’t feel I had the right background or qualifications to do what I am already doing.

When He revealed that reality to me, my soul in its brokenness was set free from the lie I have been believing.

God broke it off in one sentence.

I feel broken but in a good way.
Moldable, use able, despite my flaws.

God is shining through the cracks of this vessel as I continue to become more aware of how He can use me when I am broken of myself and seeking to be used however He chooses.

Broken in God’s hands can become something beautiful.

cracked

Karla Lees

Forget your perfect offering 
There is a crack in everything 
That’s how the light gets in.

-Leonard Cohen

Those who know me best know I am slightly cracked.

Not just because I have an off the wall sense of humor at times, but for a lesser known reason.

I believe its okay not to be okay all the time.

I know been working hard at becoming more purposefully transparent.

Meaning if someone asks me how my day is, I answer truthfully, not with the generic “Okay” we can tend to automatically reply with when we don’t want to let people know how we are really doing…whether we are afraid to share it, or fearful of either their indifference or judgment.

This weekend, I sensed I was to get a long term chronic pain in my left hip looked at. Not knowing exactly what direction that meant, I decided to just listen for a few days for clarification.

Sunday morning, our first speaker shared a story about you guessed it, a problem with his hip stemming from a foot injury (mine was a knee injury). After the sermon, I was more convince than ever I needed to get my hip looked at (the speaker ended up needing surgery, after imaging revealed some serious damage to his hip).

My fear factor took over big time. I assumed the timing of this talk meant I might need an MRI or possibly surgery, at the best case it was a flare of early osteoarthritis, which has shown up in my hands & feet over the past year. Forget the fact that I have had four car accidents and two knee surgeries, i just mentally jumped the gun to my worst case scenario.

I briefly mentioned this to one of my bosses on Monday, who happens to be an excellent sport physiotherapist, and asked if he thought a thorough assessment would be a good idea, or go right for imaging. (A physiotherapist can write a letter of recommendation for imaging to a doctor based on their findings.) He thought both worth considering, as this issue has been bothering me off and on for years, and could be an indication of something serious.

Today, an unexpected cancelation and a incidental delay in a meeting allowed me to fit in a very thorough and a bit uncomfortable assessment. I was very honest about my related history, and the physio was equally honest with her questions during the exam.

The findings?

One of my legs is a centimeter shorter than the other, which (in my understanding) is causing my muscles from my hip to tilt my pelvis slightly forward to compensate, painfully tightening my back and hip muscles in the process. What I experienced as my back giving out was my body’s cry of exhaustion and help.

A lift in my left shoe, a few rounds of an uncomfortable stretch, some support taping and instructions not to put my feet up at the end of the day nor to stay seated too long have combined to drop my pain level about 50%.

I am dumbfounded at how God stirred me to speak about what I was fearful of to the right person, and how His timing reworked my schedule to make this happen.

If I hadn’t spoken out my concern and need, I wouldn’t have found the answer He meant for me to find. He cracked through my fear to highlight the root of what was really going on. And I am left grateful and hopeful for a less pain filled future!

So I shared this with my family, my life group tonight, and now with you.

Because its okay to answer we aren’t okay, if that is how you truly are.

God invited those who are weary and heavy burdened to come to Him for rest.

Not those who have it all together.
Rather, those of us who know our need, are willing to admit it, and willingly come to Him.

I know my cracks and how much I need to be fixed.

Despite it all, I realize if i weren’t cracked, you couldn’t see Him shine through my weakness.

Because some days, its only His strength that is keeping me going.

And that is okay.

May you see Him clearly through the cracks in your life, as He has been shining through mine.

We don’t need to be perfect to hold His glory, just willing to be filled.

image