Clay Jars and Sacred Vessels.

I have this image.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 says, 

"But we have this treasure in jars

of clay to show that this all-surpassing

power is from God and not from us.

We are hard pressed on very side,

but not crushed; 

perplexed, but not in despair;

persecuted, but not abandoned;

struck down, but not destroyed."

My heart is a clay jar.

Within it resides the very power 

that raised Christ from the dead.

And no matter how discouraged,

distraught, lonely, isolated,

or helpless I feel or am,

No thing can lessen,

disturb, or destroy

that very power that is within me.

As long as I hold my clay jar tight 

and close to my chest, 

hugging it with all of my might.

I can safely walk through life,

or right now, down the streets of Ghana,

even with the hustle and bustle of people,

bumping into me,

jostled around on tro tros,

or crammed into taxis,.

My body may waste away,

it may feel hungry because

of the little food we eat here,

it may be tired from walking 2 miles

to school everyday,

dripping with sweat and slowly

browning because of the hot African sun.

My mind may feel exhausted

due to the extreme challenge it

sometimes is to teach beautiful African 

Deaf children how to read.

I may feel lonely as if no one understands,

I may feel isolated as if no one is listening,

and I may feel hopeless as if no one really

shares the same passion for Christ as I do,

but none of that,

not any of it,

can touch even a fraction

of what my clay jar holds.

"For God, who said,

Let light shine out of darkness,

made his light shine in our hearts

to give us the light of the

knowledge of the glory

of God in the face of Christ."

-2 Corinthians 4:6

So may my heart shine.

Shine through the thick African red dirt

that is constantly caked on my feet.

May it shine through my dirt-stained

skirt from kneeling beside 

little chairs to look straight into

the deep chocolate brown little eyes

of my African Deaf children.

May it shine through my chalk and pencil lead

stained finger tips from teaching them

how to write their letters.

No matter my outside,

the deepest, most inner part of me,

is the same.

Yesterday,

Today,

and Tomorrow.

"Therefore we do not lose heart.

Though outwardly we are wasting away,

yet inwardly we are being renewed

day by day.

For our light and momentary troubles

are achieving for us an eternal glory

that far outweighs them all.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,

but on what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal." 

-2 Corinthians 4:16-18