2 Cor. 4:7 – But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Lord Jesus, Ahhh… the life-giving joy of this passage. To have you plus nothing, makes us as rich as anybody in the history of the universe. You are quintessential treasure. To have you plus everything else wouldn’t make us any richer than he who has you alone. You are the treasure all other currencies mimic and counterfeit. Nothing compares to the greatness of knowing you and the wonder of being loved by you.
You inhabit our weakness like a Rembrandt painting in a picture frame of straw; or like the Hope Diamond mounted in a necklace of tin foil and Scotch Tape. You get all the attention and honor, and we get the supreme privilege of simply being used of you. Just as it should be, and just as we want it to be.
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Though few of us are in a season of intense persecution for our faith (like Paul was), nevertheless, we can relate to his images of being hard pressed and perplexed. The stories, demands, and emotional expenditure of life tax our limits and drive us to you—which is a good thing. None of us is called to be the 4th member of the Trinity. None of us is called to be a Super-Hero. None of us is called to be awesome. All of us are called to own our limits, rest in your love, and trust in your sovereignty.
10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
So as this day begins, grant us grace to boast in our weaknesses, that your beauty, goodness, and kindness might be revealed through us. Jesus, help us die to our unrealistic to-do lists, and fear of not getting everything done. May your cross and resurrection shape our thinking, feeling, and doing. So very Amen we pray, in your tender and triumphant name.
