Over spring break my wife and I were walking around looking at various plants that were starting to bud. We saw all the usual things—the trees with sprouts, the flowers that were itching to bloom. But then we spotted something surprising. Just against the asphalt, butting up against a pine straw bed, was a tiny green plant pushing through. My only thought was, “How?!” It just didn’t make sense that the young, frail plant could push through the hard, heavy road. It seems so unlikely, so up-side-down. And yet, life finds a way.
“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. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” —2 Corinthians 4.7-12 NIV
Paul’s words here are quite well known. He recognizing how fragile we are. He confesses that having God’s power in such a weak frame is miracle. But he’s also honest about the fact that as fragile people we feel the weight of life and its many trials. We are hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down. But on the flip side, we Christians know that we are not crushed, not despairing, not abandoned, and not destroyed. If we carry Jesus around in our bodies, then we are always laying down our lives and always being raised up again.
We as Christians really are a tiny seed planted in a hard world, pushing through the weight in order to grow and produce. Are we fragile? YES! But do we as believers have the life of Jesus in us? YES! Therefore we may be hard pressed, but in Christ we push through, because it is the power of God in these fragile jars of clay that is doing Heaven’s work!
—Pastor Whit