When we are hurting, the pain affects our view of everything—including our view of God. Perhaps pain made you doubt God for the first time, or think about him for the first time.
Many of us will do almost anything to appear strong, capable, and worthy of admiration. This tendency impacts how we talk about and react to a trial. We try to avoid it. We complain about it. We’re embarrassed by it. We commiserate with others about it. We may believe that God is mad at us. We hate weakness and will do almost anything to escape it.
Yet weakness is real, and we can’t run from it. Thankfully we don’t need to. For it is through human weakness that God’s strength upholds us and is displayed to the world.
Here is the Bible’s description of a Christian: “We have this treasure in jars of clay”(2 Cor. 4:7, NIV). What treasure? The glorious gospel: the work of Jesus Christ to save sinners by grace through faith. And what is clay? A brittle, easily broken substance. And that’s what I am. That’s what you are.
God has a purpose in placing such a treasure in such a jar. We are unfit, breakable, disposable vessels, and God has decided to use our weaknesses to display his power and love. A jar of clay might be cracked in a few places, making it unusable in the world’s eyes, but God sees these deficiencies as a means to pour out and reveal more of himself.
Kristen Wetherell and Sarah Walton are coauthors of Hope When It Hurts: Biblical Reflections to Help You Grasp God’s Purpose in Your Suffering (The Good Book Company). Kristen blogs at www.UnlockingtheBible.org. Sarah blogs at www.SetApart.net.
