Friday 17 October 2008

Jars of clay

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all surpassing power is from God and not from us.” (2 Cor. 4:7)

I’m weak, easily broken, not very capable… but God can redeem my weak human efforts, and turn them to His glory. That’s what He’s been teaching me. I’ve got a lot to learn about trusting Him, recognising my own weakness, and letting Him be glorified through me.
Here’s a recent example… You may remember that I’ve been working on designing calendars with Bible verses on them in the different languages. We even went down to the printers to check on their progress (see blog below). Everything was looking good, but when the final calendars were sent to us from the printing press, the results were disappointing – font and colour issues. I’m a jar of clay, the works of my hands and those of others are going to be imperfect; things can go wrong.

But, that’s when God’s power is shown…
…There was nothing for it but to carry on with our plans to distribute the calendars, despite their quality. So off we set on a four day trip to start distribution. People loved them! No-one seemed to notice the mistakes! God can redeem our weak human efforts. I’m a jar of clay, but God can use even my broken, cracked jar to His glory.

Here’s some pictures from those travels (reading the calendar, holding a captive audience at a market, travelling around through beautiful countryside on dusty roads)…