Cracked Vessels Spill forth Life-Liquid

Have you ever pondered the use of something broken? I mean really pondered it.

Since we have been on Summer Break now for a whole 2 REAL weeks, I have been in a pondering state of mind. Often it is on my run or in my garden where those trinkets of reveling truths make their appearance. Sometimes as I am having my morning coffee on my patio and I am amazed at what I see, so blessed to be able to sit there to ponder.... it's then... when I hear His voice.

We all have that place where our tanks are filled up.  When a popular women's speaker, Jill Savage, came to our Homeschool Group she spoke about her book "Real Moms Real Jesus" and the line that stuck with me was a question she said, "What fills your tank up?" You can read more on this topic here at her website.

I can still remember my almost verbal answer to the questions that followed.....

" Do you get your tank full in a room filled with people?" Or " Do you get your tank full when you are alone and quiet?"

"Do you enjoy the crowd, drawing off the energy of others?" Or " Do you enjoy simply being one on one with another person?"

I love people.... I love to be an encourager and  to pray for others... I really enjoy to sit over a cup of coffee and visit with a dear sweet soul who has blessed my heart with their gift of friendship.... but put me in a crowd and I tend to become a bit more quiet.

Now, I can speak to the crowd, I can even lead the crowd... with the help of the Lord, of course. But to get my tank filled up, no.. I was made acutely aware this is not what fills me up. I enjoy being with people, please understand, but I find my soul is recharged, my spirit is made alive in those quiet times of contemplation and connecting with the One who calls me his own... and those sweet blessings He has diligently brought into my life.

As I have been silently listening to the swaying of the wind in my quiet time, or even to hear the rushing of water flowing through the hose, or the pattering of the rain beating upon the metal roof top as a simple symphony of life flows in the droplets of moist hydrogenated-oxygen...I think about the sound of His voice.  Isn't it amazing how the sound of His voice is compared to the rushing waters or the blowing winds.  It is in this place I find it easy to hear him, but I want to also hear Him in the busy crowd. I want to know His voice so clearly that I do not doubt. I want to KNOW that I hear.

Ponder this: What type of vessel are you?

I know this answer reflects directly back to me.  I am a broken vessel, marred by the stains of my own sinfulness.  Sometimes scarred by the cruelties or injustice of life and many times by the choices I have made.

What use does that make me good for?

Does a broken vessel meet a need? Can it do any good? Is it valuable any longer?

Ah, but for the grace of God I would have missed this beautiful picture.

Consider this:  A broken vessel, repaired to restoration at the Hand of the Master Potter,  must also yield to the touch of His hand and bend to His will.  This vessel, which is yielding, relying upon the wisdom of the Artist, receives not only the changes made to its structure but the fullness of the filling which is introduced by the One who is completing the repairs.

There are cracks, fine lines and fractures which line this vessel I am. In my weakness, I've destroyed or smashed the solidness of this receptacle.  In His goodness, he restores, repairs, rejuvenates, reuses, renames, and re-purposes for HIS plan.

It is through the cracks, those fine  fractured lines and gaping holes in  my rebuilt vessel  that the living water FLOWS through me into the cracked clay, dry with the heat and wind of the weathered life, ready to receive a drink.

This water is poured in by the unending source of life, purposed to be spilled out as Life-Liquid into the dust formed vessels waiting to know the Heart of the Artisan, who crafted their days.

A prayer flows....

Not my will by thine be done Oh Lord,

Break in and through the shattered walls to find truth;

nestled in the cocoon of hope which you alone placed.

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made to serve you, 

to praise the Almighty for His wondrous works; 

to see His awesome display of majesty, 

and to stand in wonder-filled awe at what 

He has already done!

Teach me to pray~

Teach me to sing~

Teach me to know your love.

Give me your voice

to speak...

your heart to love~

you ears to listen...

your hands to serve.

Make me a vessel built by your wondrous hands~

which brings you glory 

and touches the heart

of the broken,

directing them

back to you.

Back to the One who called them before their days began.

Consume me that I may be 

consecrated Lord to thee.

Again, I ask... What type of vessel of you? We all need to be filled with the Life-Liquid that is given from the source of all life.

What will you do with it?

Be a life giver, shining in all your cracks, and glowing with the beauty of the light that flows from the trickling and sometimes flowing streams which reveal the radiance of the King. When we do, people won't see the cracks, but they will see the breath-taking image of the Lord who is the true source of beauty and love.