Wait a minute. Aren’t we supposed to be the moldable clay? Isn’t that one of the main points of being a Christian, so that the Lord can mold us?? Then why would we smash clay jars???
Of course we are likened to be moldable clay so that we can be shaped to walk closer with the Lord. We are to be able to withstand the heat of the kilns. The heat that gets turned up with life, and boy oh boy is
Chronic illness is one of those times of fire where we are provided the opportunity to grow from the heat of living life on planet Earth.
Along the way of living our lives and enduring the fires that come along, we also need to process some of it. Some we can just let go and move on. Other experiences need more processing. That is where smashing clay jars come in.
Smashing Your Clay Jar
I have actually done this before. It was a couple decades ago buts lets see if I can reenact the event.
It goes something like this;
Once upon a time, I was born. Born into a sinful family and was sinful
That means, life happened, events happened, traumas and hurts came and went through it all.
Some of those events hurt more than others. Some of them I hung on to more than others. Some of them hung on to me!!!
You get the picture. We all have our unique life stories
And that’s why we have Jesus, to overcome sin.
Processing Through Smashing
Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
~ Jeremiah 19:10-11 (NIV)
I read this a couple decades ago and thought, hum, what a good idea, SMASH A POT.
Okay, so I took a bit of liberty in my thinking on this one but it was through God’s word that got this thinking started.
God smashes sin, one way or another.
To process some of the things we tend to hang on to might make for better lives. The events really did happen and although we can learn to fully forgive, sometimes it can be hard to forget and that is what can get in our way.
So… SMASH a jar, vase, pot.
Seriously, find a pot, valuable or not, and SMASH it.
Do it so that you have all of the pieces.
Smash it inside of a bag or wheelbarrow so you can collect all of the piece.
Visualize all those pieces as the people and events that have not only hurt you but have contributed to shaping you into who you are today.
The SMASHING also helps one release tension. Have you ever gotten so mad that you wanted to smash something? Here is your opportunity to do it and let the Lord use it for good.
SMASH away. Keep all the pieces of the pot because you will need them.
Processing Sin
I don’t care if it is your sin or others sin or the combo of both, gather up all those pieces (of sin) that you have smashed.
Think — about the situations that you are having trouble letting go of. There might be as many as there are pieces of that SMASHED pot.
Pray — pray on this, all of it, whatever IT is.
Act — there is always something that we all can do. We can choose to accept the reality of the situations. We can actively forgive, others and ourselves. We can actively ask for forgiveness. We can talk out anything that requires discussion (with WILLING participants). We can actively let go and let God take care of the justice of it all.
Listen — to God. What is the Holy Spirit specifically telling YOU to do (or not to do). Then do it. Process in the way that the Lord wants YOU to process this yuck-and-muck of life that is getting in the way.
Spend a day, a week, maybe a month looking at all those pieces you have SMASHED your pot into.
Pray pray PRAY.
Processing Healing
Now it is time to put the pieces back together again. Get the right kind of glue for your kind of pot and get to work.
Just like us, that pot will never look the same. We have all taken on the experience of life, with all of our flaws and sin, all of the events, and all of the healing.
The beauty is in the masterpiece that God created, not mankind.
So, no matter what this life, this world, planet Earth, has done to us (or we have allowed), we are, as Christians, God’s precious children. We are beautiful and worthy, JUST THE WAY WE ARE, broken and all.
When we can see our value through the Lord’s eyes, we are whole, not broken.
I had a pastor once who used to speak about the word sincerity. It had something to do with marble and the hairline cracks or something or another. The point was, it was those itty bitty cracks that revealed the truth of marble — the sincerity that it was truly marble.
The cracks can be a symbol of our sincerity, our truth, who we truly are in Christ.
Pray AGAIN.
What should YOU do with that pot? What does the Lord want you to do with it??
Do it!!!
It might be a centerpiece for your table or fireplace. It might be placed on a shelf in plain view for you to catch sight of and remember this healing process.
The Lord may even tell you to bury it. Bury the sin, the pain and heartache so that you can be at peace.
I don’t know where your pot will end up but I do know that it will no longer hold water!!!!
With all of our cracks and our wounds from life, Jesus can still live in us. Our bodies can still be the temple for the Holy Spirit. They don’t leak out of us once they are in.
Smile and be at peace,
Maribeth