A message for all the “cracked pots” of this world!

2 Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to Elohim who always leads us on, to overcome in Messiah, and manifests through us the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 Because we are to Elohim the fragrance of Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the smell of death to death, and to the other the fragrance of life to life. And who is competent for these? 17 For we are not, as so many, adulterating the Word of Elohim for gain – but as of sincerity, but as from Elohim, in the sight of Elohim, we speak in Messiah. (ISR)

I remember reading a story once about a man from long ago who fetched the family’s water at a well at the top of a hill, using two clay pots fastened on either side of a big branch across his shoulders. One of the pots was cracked and usually, by the time he returned to his house, the leaky pot would be half empty. Being poor, he couldn’t afford to buy another pot, and so, grumbling and lamenting over the wasted water, he kept using that broken pot because it was better than nothing.

Then one day, he noticed something: Flowers were blooming all along the trail on the side where the cracked pot had been leaking the water on his trek down the hill. He smiled when he realized the water had not gone to waste after all; that it had been used by Elohim to beautify the otherwise dull hillside to bring smiles and fill the air with wonderful fragrances!

Believers who have “passed through the fire” of this world and ended up with bruises and broken hearts and minds, are similar to that cracked pot - because, at some point, once they have been refined through their experiences, the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit) is bound to “leak out” and fill the air with the holy fragrance of YHWH (or Yahweh, the Father), to nudge others. These people exude a certain air that is filled with the shalom (peace) that only YHWH can provide!

YHWH is able to better utilize as witnesses people who are “cracked pots” because they have the best testimonies! They are able to pass on the knowledge and wisdom gained through their trials and tribulations; whereas those born with the proverbial “silver spoons in their mouths”, who rarely (if ever) crack their Bibles and never endured any real hardships, and who have basically had everything handed to them, have nothing tangible to share and never really reflect the Holy Spirit.

They’ve had no need to cling to our Savior or cry out in anguish to Him, because they were never thrust into real hardships. They have never had to deal with gut-wrenching pain or adversity so, when something bad finally does happen to them, they fall apart and end up in the clutches of “the world” (i.e., they might end up making poor or harmful decisions, or turning to drugs or alcohol, and seeking help from psychiatrists or counselors with no knowledge of God or the Bible … basically remaining in the same rut they’ve always been in).

In other words, they are essentially babes who have never had a chance to learn and grow to be what YHWH needed them to be in preparation for the world to come. They’re like lumps of coal with no holy reflection....

Zechariah 13:2 But who can endure the day when he comes? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like the soapmaker's lye. 3 He will sit, testing and purifying the silver; he will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold and silver, so that they can bring offerings to ADONAI uprightly. (CJB)

Zechariah 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on My Name, and I will answer them; I will say, It is My people; and they shall say, Yahweh my Elohim is my Elohim. (CJB)

Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day when he comes? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire, like the soapmaker's lye. 3 He will sit, testing and purifying the silver; he will purify the sons of Levi, refining them like gold and silver, so that they can bring offerings to ADONAI uprightly. (CJB)

Isaiah 48:10 "Look, I have refined you, but not [as severely] as silver; [rather] I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. (CJB)

Job 23:10 Yet he knows the way I take; when he has tested me, I will come out like gold. (CJB)

Job 23:10 Yet he knows the way I take; when he has tested me, I will come out like gold. 11 My feet have stayed in his footsteps; I keep to his way without turning aside. 12 I don't withdraw from his lips' command; I treasure his words more than my daily food. (CJB)

As YHWH's Creations, most of us have gone through "fire" in one way or another and, hopefully, we learned from the experience. Through our trials and tribulations, rough edges were smoothed and sharp edges were sluffed off, until we more closely resembled what we were meant to be.

God allows us to go through hard times so that we may grow and become smooth and shiny. His goal is for us to become a reflection of Him that not only He can see, but also so others can see Him in us.

The astute person will learn to recognize that fact; and the sooner they do, the quicker they can become valuable members of the Family of God, ready and willing to sow seeds and even water them, whenever the opportunity presents itself!

My prayer for all the "cracked pots" of this world is that you will have your spiritual eyes opened to the endless, wonderful possibilities of being ALL you can be! Amein!