“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
A story has been told about a daughter who complained to her father about how hard her life has been. She felt crushed at every turn, rejected, beaten down, and trampled. Her father, a chef, took her into the kitchen and filled three pots with boiling water. In the first pot, he put potatoes, the second he placed eggs, and the third...ground coffee beans. He then let them sit and boil without saying anything. His daughter grew impatient...and after 20 minutes, the father removed the items from the water and placed them into three bowls.
Turning to her he asked “What do you see?” She answered, “Potatoes, eggs, and coffee!” The father encouraged her to look closer, and, in fact, touch each item. She felt the potatoes...soft. Then came the eggs which were now hard from boiling. Last, the coffee... dark, rich, and strong smelling. “How is this supposed to help me?” she asked.
The father explained that all three items had faced the same adversity: the boiling water. The potato had gone in tough but when confronted with the heat, became soft and weak. The egg, which was fragile at the start, dealt with the boiling challenge by hardening to the point of not letting anything else in.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
“Which are you?” the father asked.
That’s the question I have for you today. What happens inside of you when adversity strikes? As we partner together and experience life at Potential Church, there will be times when you will face the “boiling water.” Foreclosure, personal tragedy, lack of faith, struggles with addiction, and the like. Maybe you find yourself already in the bubbling pot...anxious, stressed, and wondering what will happen. Will God be enough?
Today’s verse talks specifically about our enemy, Satan, trying to crush us, hunt us, knock us down, and confuse us from what we know is the truth. The answer to Satan’s attacks?
Remembering that, through God, we have all the power we need.
The power to get back up.
The power to never quit.
The power to push the devil back.
The power to try again.
The power to win.
The power to love.
The power to change the world and not let it change us.
That’s my prayer for you today... that when life seems to be crushing you, that you would remember that inside of your “fragile clay jar” you hold the greatest treasure: Jesus Christ. God didn’t put us here to just endure the boiling water of life... He sent us here to, like the coffee bean, create something new: A new heart, a new mind... maybe even a new way of looking at the challenges. Don’t shrink back from the heat... look at it as an opportunity to become something greater. When we stand up against adversity, God’s power is demonstrated through us, and Christ gets the glory!
