Cracked Pots
These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:7
A few years ago I worked with a student who would often say, “I hate it when that happens.” He had heard another teacher say it and loved to repeat it whenever the occasion presented itself. It became something of a joke among those of us who worked with Paul because he repeated the phrase so frequently. In our world there are a lot of circumstances that fit that phrase. Paul’s demeanor was so precious that his use of those words often took the sting out of an otherwise discordant situation. It got to the point that at some of our worst moments one of us would say; “Don’t you just hate it when that happens?”
The truth is we all hate it when anything goes wrong. For the most part we want smooth sailing. When we hit a trial or even a bump in the road we get irritated. We don’t stop and try to see what God is teaching us. It is so much easier to see a teachable moment when the lesson is for someone else. Being tested is not fun nor is it easy. Most of us would prefer to go around the fire rather than through it. Can’t we prove ourselves some other way? The answer is no.
In Peter’s day the pots with flaws cracked in the fire. They didn’t pass the test and that was the end of the road for those pots. The analogy is perfect to describe how God allows us to be tested to prove our faith, not to Him but to ourselves. These are the rubber hits the road moments in life. This is where we can really have faith or just say we have faith.
Sure we hate it when that happens. We hate the tests and we really hate to fail but the good news is that we get another chance. The pot that became cracked in the fire was doomed. There wasn’t a second chance, try again, maybe a different fire for those pots. It was a once for all deal. We are blessed that our Father picks us up, dusts us off and allows us to try again, increasing or decreasing the heat, as we need. Fires will come in our lives and it is okay to hate them. Just try not to crack under the pressure…. try to hang on in faith and bring glory to God.
A few years ago I worked with a student who would often say, “I hate it when that happens.” He had heard another teacher say it and loved to repeat it whenever the occasion presented itself. It became something of a joke among those of us who worked with Paul because he repeated the phrase so frequently. In our world there are a lot of circumstances that fit that phrase. Paul’s demeanor was so precious that his use of those words often took the sting out of an otherwise discordant situation. It got to the point that at some of our worst moments one of us would say; “Don’t you just hate it when that happens?”
The truth is we all hate it when anything goes wrong. For the most part we want smooth sailing. When we hit a trial or even a bump in the road we get irritated. We don’t stop and try to see what God is teaching us. It is so much easier to see a teachable moment when the lesson is for someone else. Being tested is not fun nor is it easy. Most of us would prefer to go around the fire rather than through it. Can’t we prove ourselves some other way? The answer is no.
In Peter’s day the pots with flaws cracked in the fire. They didn’t pass the test and that was the end of the road for those pots. The analogy is perfect to describe how God allows us to be tested to prove our faith, not to Him but to ourselves. These are the rubber hits the road moments in life. This is where we can really have faith or just say we have faith.
Sure we hate it when that happens. We hate the tests and we really hate to fail but the good news is that we get another chance. The pot that became cracked in the fire was doomed. There wasn’t a second chance, try again, maybe a different fire for those pots. It was a once for all deal. We are blessed that our Father picks us up, dusts us off and allows us to try again, increasing or decreasing the heat, as we need. Fires will come in our lives and it is okay to hate them. Just try not to crack under the pressure…. try to hang on in faith and bring glory to God.
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