WorrySlayer

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"
~ Matthew 6:25

First of all, I am sorry it has taken me so long to get up a new blog! These past couple weeks have just been crazy hectic and I haven't had a lot of time to write. I've been worried about finances, laundry, grades, homework...and Greek.

It's funny, I had this verse written down a long time time ago but found one that I "liked" a little better that I really wanted to write on. I was flipping through my notebook and found this one, and it really hit me.

I am a chronic worrier. There is always something that I'm worried about. It is so easy to let the things of this world pile up around my feet.

Christ said, "do not worry about your life." That's a hard commandment to follow. And "do not worry about your body" wow, tough order.

Jesus specifically mentions what we will eat, drink, and wear. I've listened to my mom fuss over what we will eat and I've worried about what I will wear. I think it's normal and "perfectly" human to worry about these things.

The passage goes on to say that the Father provides food for the birds and they don't farm or work, they don't try to store things up for later. Jesus said in verse 26: "Are you not more valuable than they?" God will provide food for us to eat because He loves us.

After that He talks about the lilies of the field and how the Father has clothed the fields. He says that not even King Solomon had garments like the fields. If God will clothe the fields we need to be confident that He will also clothe us.

We do not need to worry because God will provide for us. We are inclined to worry, but we need to be WorrySlayers.

FragilePottery

"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 every side, but not crushed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."

~ 2 Corinthians 4:7-9

This is a bit longer then the passages I normally choose, but it's so good! I was actually having a hard time picking a verse for this week, but my campus Bible study talked about this set of verses on Wednesday. 

I don't know if you've worked with clay, but here's the deal, it's fragile. My parents used to have their own business where my dad would make whistles shaped like animals out of clay and my mom would paint them. I remember having to be careful when they were around. Before they go through the kiln and they're still wet they're easily smooshed back into a lump. After they're dry, before firing, they are crumbly. Finally, after they go through the intense heating process, they are so fragile. Sometimes pieces will explode in the kiln--when this happens it can seriously damage the other pieces. Things made out of clay can be easily broken. 

Why would Paul choose to liken us to jars of clay? Doesn't he call us to be strong and stand firm in the faith? How can we stand firm in the faith if we are breakable? 

He's proving a point that we are nothing without God. Nothing. Without God we are breakable and fragile. We are FragilePottery. 

If you apply pressure to all sides of a jar of clay, it will succumb and crumble. But verse 8 says that we will be hard pressed on all sides and not be crushed. We won't be crushed because we have the power of Christ in our FragilePottery. He is our support system. 

How often do you get confused? I don't know about you, but there are somedays that I am just confused all the time, my brain just doesn't click things together. We can be perplexed, but we are not in despair because we have the hope of Christ in us. 

As Christians we face persecution, I think I've touched on this before. Paul knew what being persecuted was like. But we are not alone, we are not abandoned. Even when things seem to be at their darkest, we are not alone. 

If you strike a pot down, it will break, but we are not destroyed. 

How awesome is it that we have the best support system ever inside of us? We will go through trying times, but our FragilePottery will not be broken. 

God Bless