In high school I took an art class because I knew it was an easy A and all my friends would be in the class. I hate doing anything artsy because I am not good at it. I wanted to be in this class because if I had to decide between math and sucking at art I choose the art. This class brought out the worst in me when it came to doing pottery. We had to create pots and bowls with clay, starting from scratch. I had to take this lump of land and make it into something you could eat out of. I kid you not, every dang pot, pan, mug, whatever it was it would always crack in the furnace. Just when I was feeling good about how it would turn out the teacher would take it out and boom there it was a giant crack or several little ones all over.
Life is like the art of pottery; it’s all about turning the dirt that we came from and turning into something that can be used. WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO BE USED. God is the potter, forming us with his hands. Take a moment and think this through with me… God is forming us from the dirt, he has a vision, and he knows what the end product will be. We are the clay (dirt) we don’t know what’s in the mind of the creator all we know is that we are the creation. WE MAY NOT KNOW THE FINAL OUTCOME OF WHO OR WHAT WE WILL BE BUT THE CREATOR HAS A BIGGER VISION AND PLAN. He knows what parts to put together, how much clay to take out, how much water to use; he knows what he is doing. THE CREATION WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT THE CREATOR SEES BUT THE CREATION CAN FEEL THE CREATOR WORK ON THEM. We can feel him molding us by our pits and peaks. Sometime he has to take clay away to make the pot better for His final outcome. This is why sometimes God takes things out of our life, it’s too much clay and it doesn’t have a place to be in our final creation. Sometimes, there isn’t enough clay to make the pot so he begins to add more clay (new friends, new situations, new beginnings). HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT THE POT NEEDS, TRUST HIM. YOU ARE IN THE BEST ARTIST’S HANDS.
Like my pots, we have cracks. God molds us then allows us to enter into the world before he is done with us. We are tested in the furnace and sometimes we crack. God allows cracks to happen because he allows us to make our own decisions. Sometimes we crack but the thing is God knows we will crack, just like me and how I knew every one of my pots was going to crack; God knows the same thing. Our cracks though are all different, different shapes, sizes, and in different places. Our cracks give us character they show that we’ve been through the fire and we made it out. The cracks don’t stop us from being a bowl; we are still what God made us out to be. NO MATTER HOW MANY CRACKS WE HAVE WE CAN STILL BE USED.
Our cracks set us apart, we all have had different situations that formed that crack. A crack for me is self-doubt, that was formed by me being bullied. Another crack of mine is breakups and failed relationships. I have a crack from each heartbreak I've been through. We all have different things that have hurt us, cracked our foundation, made us do something that wasn't right. Whatever that crack is know that although all our cracks are different we are bonded by the fact that we have all cracked. You aren't alone. The bowl next to you is cracked, it’s just in a place you can’t see. Don’t ever judge yourself that you have a crack because as soon as sin was introduced cracks were inevitable. Though we are all different we are bonded by the fact that we all sin. All our sin is different but at the end of the day sin is sin.
What are your cracks? What furnace of life are you in? take the time to understand each and every crack because although they do not define us they have the power to teach us. God has His hand in everything, all things come together to work for you. All your cracks will come together to build you, make you stronger. We may not know what exactly we will be used for but that doesn’t stop us from being used. Make yourself available and useable by opening your heart to God. Allow him to work in your life, mold you. Allow him to be the potter and allow yourself to be the instrument that connects the two worlds. YOU ARE A BEAUTIFUL CREATION MADE TO CHANGE AND IMPACT THE WORLD YOU ARE LIVING IN. SEE THE MASTERPIECE THAT YOU ARE, YOU ARE PERFECTLY MADE.