Have you ever had a week that seemed like a high speed treadmill? You're running as fast as you can and trying to keep up the pace? Well, the last three weeks of my life have kind of been like that. But I love how God has a way of breaking through the race and handing us a cold drink of refreshment in the midst of at all. For me, it happened while on an errand for work in downtown Dallas at a pottery store.
As I walked past a particular area of broken pots at the pottery store last week, I was reminded of a vision God gave me at MegaFest 2013. I was sitting in the upper balcony and in awe of beholding tens of thousands of women passionately praising God and rejoicing over His word. As we neared the end of the service, I saw a very vivid vision of a beautiful clay vessel, with a small top and larger bottom. Although it was beautiful in form and material, the vessel was broken. My immediate thought was to patch up the cracks to prevent it from breaking. But the fascinating thing was, there was oil coming from the cracks. And it wasn't just spilling out. It was springing forth. And I heard the Lord whisper to me, "It's My oil that flows through the cracks." In that moment, God revealed something so profound.
I realized that although we may be broken and imperfect, we are still held together by His grace. We are still fit for His use. And it's actually our cracks, our broken places, that He chooses to flow through...
Even as I looked at the collection of broken pots for sale at the pottery store, I saw that the owner still found value in the broken vessels. She didn't throw them away or discard them. She realized that someone may come and find use for them despite their cracks, and decided to sell them "As Is."
Isn't that how we are with God? He sees us broken and still wants to use us. Still sees purpose and value despite our cracks.
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel of honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. ”
Oftentimes, we get so caught up in our inabilities and past mistakes that we no longer see ourselves fit for the calling. You know, like that habit you have that no one knows about or that past mistake that you avoid when you share your testimony. God is fully aware of who we were and what we are struggling with, and has the ability to transform us and make us new.
“The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s house, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the LORD gave me this message: “Oh Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.””
Today, no matter what you have been through in the past week or even the past decade, God can take you and do a new thing in your life. He can break every curse of your family history. He can shift you from one season to the next. He can set you on a course you never saw coming. He can use your deepest places of pain and flow His power right there.
As I drove back to work reflecting on my moment at the pottery store (funny that I am a member of The Potter's House church...and that's a whole 'nother level of revelation that swirled through my brain), I knew I had to share this with you. In 2017, I pray that we surrender to God's will and begin to see ourselves as His vessels, set apart for the Master's use, fully capable of being used by Him despite our flaws and cracks.
Emonne Markland