Jars of Clay

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But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to the death of Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.

Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, I believed, and so I spoke, we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

-2 Corinthians 4: 7-18

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A jar of clay in the ancient days of history is a metaphor to human weakness and here the apostle Paul calls our weakness a treasure because of its ability to exemplify the authority of God manifested in the death of Jesus, which has given us life within Him.

In our jars, perhaps we hold suffering, brokenness, sickness, extreme fatigue, stress, marital discourse, relationship mishaps, financial distress, death of a loved one...

In his own way, Paul bluntly proclaims our jars of clay, our tribulations will not stop because death actively works to disintegrate our earthly bodies. Death leaps in abounds when we wallow in our hurt, which ultimately causes us to spiral down a rabbit trail of questions about the things we see and physically feel to which we do not like or understand. Death will not stop until the return of our Lord. In other words, perfection will not be found here, alter your perception, find strength in the power of God and persevere. If not, you're going to be stuck in the mud-mess of society, bitter and sad. You're going to feel destroyed. Gee thanks, Paul. Way to be a Debbie Downer. Oomph.

The truth is sometimes a hard pill to swallow, isn't it?

Here on earth, we have a distaste for weakness. We pucker our hearts and sour our tongues even by the aroma. It is not our natural instinct to run towards it, and sometimes, we are chastised because of it. So we try to fix it by our own strength. We mend the holes in our hearts and patch the spaces in our minds as to shut out our suffering. In little time, it pushes through our mended seams and out bursts more suffering in new ways, old ways or a combination of the two. And while this initially feels dark and gloomy, perhaps we could learn to view our sufferings as a daily reminder of the grace God has extended. Through Him there is rich, soul feeding, sustained healing.

We can go through life vigorously tiring ourselves trying to fix all of our pain, all of our grief, all of our hurt or we can use our weakness as an example to show others the saving grace of our Lord.

It's hard, repetitive, battle ready, Kingdom work to counter-culturally embrace human brokenness in a determined, misguided society dedicated to spread a message of deserved perfection in every way, every aspect of our disheveled livelihood. They want us to move on, to overcome with pride, to prove ourselves but for whom and for what benefit?

And we will fall short because there is no such thing and it isn't about you......ouchy.

Paul ends chapter four with restoration, reminding us that the things we see, the things we feel on earth are only for a little while. Each day our souls are renewed by the faith we believe in the eternal glory of Heaven. Do you believe? Do you believe your weakness has the power to transform your spirit? If not yours, do you believe God can use your struggles to bring someone else to Him? Can you embrace your jar of clay, asking God to mold it rather than obliterate it?

This is convicting material.

I am weak.

Feel stuck.

Want out.

Pain be gone.

I want to be okay.

To be fixed.

Healed.

Earthly satisfied.

And what if that never happens?

My jar of clay, my human weakness fashions itself to hormonal imbalance, a hyper tonic pelvic floor, extreme sexual pain, periods of unnecessary erratic emotions and certain medical attention not covered by insurance. This health condition I've been experiencing has touched every aspect of my life and will continue well into portions I haven't even prepared for.

And that shouldn't be scary. I shouldn't feel defeated. I shouldn't feel persecuted or jealous or upset or question but when I do start to place my fear, my human weakness in my own control, I must come back to Paul's teaching, "for this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight beyond comparison." For God is using me, using you in your affliction to prepare for the glory of God's return and so we must persist forward in devoted faith, knowing we will not have an easy life but a life full of challenges and heartache for the sake of the manifest of Christ Jesus living within us.

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It's of no coincidence when I popped on Instagram after writing this blog post that I watched Phylicia Masonheimer's story (you should all go follow her...seriously) and she had linked an article written by someone who touches on this same topic - through her personal suffering of continued loss and the need for abrupt medical attention, she laments her trials, acknowledges the pain but begs the question "do we really want closure for our suffering?"

Some of my favorite lines from Ann Voskamp's post: (linked here)

Buy the lie that your life is supposed to be heaven on earth, and suffering can be a torturous

hell. But accept and expect that life is a battle, then suffering isn’t a problem but part of earth’s

topography to cross on our way to heaven.

The question never is if you understand the why of your suffering — and the answer always is

how are you going to stand up and walk through your suffering. You don’t have to know the

reason for your suffering — you only have to know your response through the suffering.

Wellness comes as we welcome the Word and whatever line He writes into our story.

This is the only response to suffering that doesn’t cause more suffering.