The Cracks in This Pot

I do a science experiment with the boys every week. This week the purpose of our experiment was to find out why the bubbles in soda cling to the side and bottom of a glass, and what happens when we dip a strip of paper towel into the glass of carbonated beverage. The children's procedure was to observe what the bubbles did, and then record their findings. My job, was to tell them why.

The reason why the tiny bubbles cling to the surfaces is because the carbon dioxide in the soda immediately seeks out the microscopic pores, cracks, or imperfections in the glass and paper towel, and the bubbles form in these places. The gas is trying to escape, it is seeking out oxygen, and it is clinging to every surface that offers this opportunity. It was a chemical reaction between two gases, but it prompted me to think about the cracks in my own vessel, and how I believe they have allowed the, "bad stuff," to escape.

You see, I am a very cracked pot. My Potter has had to pick up the pieces and glue me back together many of times throughout my life. This is not easy for me to admit. From the outside others may not see my cracks, my broken parts, the things I have survived that have without a doubt left their marks, but they are there. However, my Master, my Potter, my faithful Creator, has always been there to help me put it all back together.

As odd as it may seem, I am thankful for my cracks, my impurities, my lessons learned. They allow the ugliness inside me to escape. They give ventilation to the sinfulness of my soul, and remind me just how reliant I am on my maker. I am stronger because of my cracks. My weak spots are still weak, but when I am willing to allow Him, my Potter uses them to make myself and others stronger.

In a few months I will be packing up my life and everything I have ever known, and traveling to Africa to begin a new life of ministry there. I do not know what my Potter has in store, but I do know that the cracks in me have allowed just enough of the sin out to make this a possibility. If I had never fallen down, if I had never been broken, I would have never seen the faithfulness of the Master's hand on my life. I am able to proceed because HE holds me in HIS altogether perfect hands!


"And yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand." Is. 64:8