I'm a little clay pot, short and stout!

Where does your mind go when you hear the word "clay"? For me, I think back to 10th grade crafts class (which by the way was the most stressful/hard class in all of high school, harder than any AP science or math class simply becuase I am terrible at ARTS and CRAFTS. ) I always knew my craftyness was bad, but it was reaffirmed when I brought home a basket I had weaved in crafts class out of rafia, and my parents ended up using it as a receptacle for old newspapers that needed to be thrown away, instead of hanging it on a wall to display the magnicance and intricacies of the weaving as suggested by the teacher to myself and my classmates. Problems only magnified for me when we moved to the art room to make our own clay pots. Around the same time, I had the misfortune to trip over a line while backpeddling during basketball practice the week before the championship game and breaking my right (dominant hand) wrist. Although I was in a cast/sling, I managed to use my left hand to whip up a lopsided clay pot, with top sides folded out to give the illusion of flower petals and a fun lavendar glaze covering it to help prevent cracks. So perhaps you don't have the same thoughts as I do, haha. Maybe you think about clay from a functional standpoint, such as clay can be used as soil fertility for plants or as a vessel. Regardless, did you know that the original Hebrew word that is translated as the "dust" that Adam was created from actually means clay, making God the first "potter," ? "Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8) and "The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life ... I too was formed from a piece of clay." (Job 33:4,6). Pretty cool, right?!

Today I want to share with you all my friend Rachel S's favorite devotional. Devotionals are things us Christian folk read on a daily basis (although doesn't always happen) to provide encouragment, remind of us biblical truth, and help us focus on God. As you may already have figured out, this devoltional talks about clay! I hope this finds you well!

Devotional

God calls us clay pots. And true to the name most of us sport cracks, carefully glued back together. We are oh so sturdy, yet oh so fragile. Why would God entrust clay pots with the light of His love? We try to fulfill His purposes but we get cracked and broken. Yet His strategy is clear... He knows our weaknesses yet He chose clay pots anyway. He tells us why... "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (2 Corinthians 4:7). Don't be ashamed of the cracks in your life... don't be afraid to show how God has mended you. This is the testimony to the watching world. Our God fixes broken pieces! If you are broken today because of circumstances in your life, or because of choices you wish you had made differently, don't stay in pieces on the floor. If you know you have disappointed God in your walk or in your talk tell Him you are sorry. God will forgive you, pick you up and mend you. Changed lives, lives lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, demonstrate that it is His power at work in us. This is our hope...this is the hope we hold out to a needy world.

Father God, Thank you that You use cracked pots to demonstrate Your love and power. Forgive me today for the guilt trips and the pity parties and help me to tap into the power that changes lives. Thank you that You put Your Spirit in me so that Your amazing power can be visible! Shine through my cracks today, Lord so that others can see who You are. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Questions: Do you need to change your thinking and accept the cracks in your life as the very places Jesus can shine through? Invite Him into those places today.