We don’t go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us. For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that this light is the brightness of the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
But this precious treasure—this light and power that now shine within us — is held in perishable containers [nothing more than clay pots], that is, in our weak bodies. So everyone can see that our glorious power is from God and is not our own.
We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don’t give up and quit. We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going. Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. (2 Corinthians 4:5-10)

    On a trip to Torreon, Mexico recently, I met Miguel Gonzalez, a man who has established seven small churches in Michoacan. His work was done among the Purepecha Indians and was received with a great resistance. He has dodged bullets and stones from some of the local people who oppose the teaching of biblical Christianity in that area.

    Miguel’s story is quite unusual: One day in the fall of 1992, while he was on the way to the highlands of Michoacan, the bus Miguel was traveling in had a serious accident which left him comatose in the hospital. His left leg was injured beyond repair, and had to be amputated. While Miguel was still in the coma, the hospital sent for his wife and daughter. But along the way, there was another bus accident which took both their lives. So when Miguel eventually came out of his coma, he found that he had not only lost his leg, but also his wife and daughter. As you can imagine, this was unbelievably traumatic for Miguel, but he found solace in preaching the word of God to the Purepecha Indians.

    Robert Reid had polio while very young, but that didn’t stop him from graduating from college and moving to Lisbon, Portugal, to do a great job for the Lord. Robert used to sit at a public park and — from his wheel chair — offer booklets and prayers to the people passing by. Robert’s ministry was able to convert several persons in Portugal, especially Rosa, a young Portuguese lady who later became his wife. Since returning to the United States, Robert has been working at Abilene Christian University as a counselor and encourager to young students, while pursuing his Master’s Degree. He plans to return to Portugal to resume his mission work later this year.

    A friend of mine working for a church in another country went through a traumatic experience when his wife left him for another man. But the leaders of his congregation asked him to stay, and to continue preaching. He preached for that congregation all throughout the divorce proceedings, and it was a difficult time for him. After he had been through it all, my friend concluded that he was better able to reach out to people through his weakness and pain rather than his strength and power. He preached on, handicap and all. And what he learned was that people are interested in your humanity rather than your perfection.

“When I am weak, then I am strong.”

    The apostle Paul never hid his weaknesses, especially when he wrote his second letter to the Corinthians. He mentions to them his well-known “thorn in the flesh”, which counteracted any possible boasting about his visions of heaven. There are some who say that the handicap was caused by his encounter with the Lord on the Damascus Road (Acts 9), leaving him blind. Others say it was epilepsy.

    It makes no difference what that “thorn” was in Paul’s life. The truth is that, whatever it was, it tormented our hero greatly. And his response to that “messenger of Satan” was to use it as a springboard, to reach out to imperfect people.

    An embarrassing abnormality can make us want to hide it from everybody’s sight — we don’t want to burden others with our pain. But Paul did not hide it. Paul makes his weaknesses evident and shares them with everyone; he even brags about it! (2 Corinthians 12)

    The apostle knew who the real Author was of the work he was doing. When he begged the Lord to remove that hindrance from him, his Master’s words were far from comforting: “My grace is sufficient to you.” Instead of taking it away, the Lord gave him strength to live with it.

    That kept Paul humble; it prepared him to face enemies trusting God’s power. And it still inspires us when the going in the ministry gets rough. If Paul could continue preaching as he did, in spite of that handicap, then so can we.

    We know that the best ministry comes from a broken heart that has surrendered to Christ. Let us keep in mind Paul’s words: “When I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

Print this Article Send it to a Friend Discuss Heartlight encourages you to share this material with others in church bulletins, personal emails and other non-commercial uses. Please see our Usage Guidelines for more information.	Robert and Rosa
	ALL of Heartlight        --- ARTICLES   A Taste of Home   Caring Touch   Diary of God   Hope from the Hill Country   Just for Men   Just for Women   Leading in Hope   Love, Sex & Marriage   Making Life Work   Prayer for the Nation   Single...Not Alone   Special Features   Timely Truths   Together in His Grace   Two Minute Meditations        --- DEVOTIONALS   Charles Spurgeon   Daily Wisdom   My Utmost for His Highest   Praying with Paul   Quotemeal   Today's Verse   What Jesus Did

© 2003, Herald of Truth and Lou Seckler, Hope for Life. Used by permission.

Title: "Treasures in Clay Pots"
Author: Lou Seckler
Publication Date: February 28, 2003