Treasure in Cracked, Clay Pots

There’s a coffee shop in my community called “The Cracked Pot”. Doubling as a ministry outreach, it provides help and hope for children aging out of foster care. After a little bit of research, I learned that the name is derived from 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 and symbolizes resilience and purpose.

In that Bible passage, and the wider context of that passage, clay pots – or “earthen vessels” – are referring to our physical bodies. Bodies that get hurt, beat up, and worn out. Yet, the apostle Paul, who wrote this letter, speaks of something that is much greater within. His testimony was that while he and his fellow apostles were “hard pressed on every side”, “perplexed”, “persecuted”, and “struck down” as they sought to live their lives for the Lord and declare His Gospel message, there was a treasure inside of these cracked, clay pots that kept them from being crushed, despairing, forsaken, and destroyed.

For the apostles and for us, such resiliency and purpose does not come from our weak human flesh. It comes from the knowledge of Jesus Christ and what He has done to show us the glory of God and the hope of eternal life! The Holy Spirit in us is the down payment, or guarantee, of what’s to come (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5). This knowledge is a confidence that temporary sufferings in this life may crack us a little, but they don’t have to break us. Rather, they can be the very thing that produces a stronger spiritual life and an eternal vision that sustains us.

Cracked pots are reminders that this life is not all there is. What’s inside reminds us that something greater is coming. And that’s why Paul could write: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (4:16). Paul calls our current sufferings a “light affliction” compared to the weight of eternal glory (4:17).

As Christians, we know we’re not supposed to worry. We’re not supposed to be anxious. We’re supposed to take everything to the Lord in prayer. But I’ll be the first one to admit that I don’t always do that. I have a lot of growing to do to make trusting the Lord my knee-jerk reaction to every bad thing that I encounter in this fragile, broken world that is so full of bad things! It’s hard to live for Christ in a world that is so set against Him. Perhaps the difficulty is because I, still in this sin-corrupted body, am also fragile and…cracked. Perhaps that’s how you are feeling too. Let the words of Paul encourage you:

“…we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (4:18).

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” (5:7).

And be encouraged by the words Jesus spoke to encourage Paul:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (12:9).

To which Paul replied: “Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (12:9-10).

If you have trusted in Jesus Christ, that cracked pot on the outside is only a temporary façade. Right beneath it is the “new creation” that He has made you to be – “old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (5:17). It may be unseen, for now – but it’s real and true. One day, that outer layer will be finally and fully shed, revealing what’s underneath – making what is now unseen (the eternal nature and promise), seen.

As Paul wrote concerning the great burdens they faced that brought them great despair, he remembered, on the brink of death – “that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead…” (1:8-9).

Therefore, as Paul would say, do not lose heart. Keep serving the Lord, and know that His death brought you into a new life that supersedes any temporary earthly purpose: “…those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (5:14-15).

Maybe through the cracks in our pot, His glory can shine even brighter to a dark world that needs to know Him and the eternal life He has offered.