God wants to use us. He has already paid for our redemption… flaws and all. He’s not looking for perfection; He wishes to use our uniqueness (what we sometimes perceive as flaws) for a wonderful purpose that we can barely imagine.The Cracked Chinese Jug
by Carolyn Han
illustrated by Christine Joy Pratt
Each morning Han Han fetched water for his village from the river. He placed a bamboo shoulder pole across his back and put the empty jugs on either side.
When Han Han returned to the village, he had one and a half jugs of water. One clay jug had a tiny crack, and some of its water had leaked out.
The perfect jug was proud of itself. It had carried a full load of water. But the imperfect jug was embarrassed. It had done only half of the work.
One day the cracked jug could stand it no longer. “I’m a failure,” it cried. “Why do I have a crack?”
Ignoring the jug’s cry, Han Han carefully filled both jugs with water at the river. By the time they reached the village, the cracked jug was again only half full. “Why don’t you throw me away?” asked the broken jug.
Han Han smiled at the jugs and put them on the shelf.
The next morning when Han Han placed the jugs on the ends of his shoulder pole, he said to the broken one, “For months, I’ve heard you complain.”
“I’m ashamed of myself,” answered the cracked jug. “I’m worthless.”
“Today when we return to the village, I want you to look along the path,” said Han Han.
It was the first time the broken jug noticed the flowers. The colorful flowers made the cracked jug very happy. But then it remembered its crack and the leaking water, and again it felt sad.
“What did you think of the flowers?” asked Han Han.
“They’re pretty,” replied the jug. “They’re only growing on my side of the path.”
“That’s right,” said Han Han. “For months you’ve watered the wildflower seeds. Your ‘failure,’ as you call it, has changed our village and made it more beautiful.”
“Then all that time I felt useless,” said the cracked jug, “my flaw was really my most valuable part!”
The apostle Paul had a flaw he called “a thorn in his flesh” that he asked God to take away. Paul speaks of it in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9…
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”
But God knew better. God knew that he had just the right vessel with Paul; not just to carry the Holy Spirit, but to be the perfect tool to water and grow a new and emerging church.
So stop worrying about your flaws. Let yourself be filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and know that when God’s Spirit leaks out of your flaws… it is to God’s plan and purpose. Perhaps you spill hope from your flaw, maybe it is encouragement, or it could just be unconditional love.
Remember the words of Paul (and I’m taking the liberty to paraphrase a tiny bit):
“God’s power is made perfect in our flaws!”
Your brother in Christ,
Dave
"“God’s power is made perfect in our flaws!”"
ReplyDeleteAmen, Dave!!!
(from the point of view of the ground/seeds): It is sometimes amazing what great difference a little bit of encouragement makes in someone's life, especially when they are not used to having any much.
And how encouraging it is to us when God shows us how we've grown closer to Him, how He has been able to use us, when we didn't even notice at the time. It's always easier to look back. but God gives us the strength to keep on as He uses us even when we feel broken. Especially since we are all broken without the healing only God can give.
I had never heard that story. But looking back at Diehl's website, he is still encouraging people with what he had written at some of his hardest times and they write how they are encourage. That is a great encouragement to me. And in wonderment, after having been told recently that have a gift of encouragement... when all I was doing was trying to get through each day and be aware that I had to lean on God to get me through it.
As I have been thinking about this the last couple of days, I thought about how when we are available for God to use us, it is not always the way we expect. Who knew the dry ground there had flower potential! Who knows who is drinking up whatever it is we show in our lives as we praise God as they watch us, we may not even know they are.
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