Treasure in Jars of Clay

“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)

The longer I live, the more I come to understand that freedom and suffering usually go hand in hand. Take for instance, the freedom that we will celebrate on July 4th every year. We celebrate our country’s freedoms, but one cannot truly appreciate the value of the freedoms we have without understanding that suffering was involved in gaining that freedom for us.

The reality is that suffering will always be a part of our earthly existence. Suffering comes from several sources: we may suffer as a result of our sin or of others sin, or, the most difficult to accept, our suffering may come from the hand of the Lord. Whatever the source, we are sure that Scripture teaches us that suffering is a part of God’s plan to mold us and shape us into all that He is creating us to be. It is a tool to cause us to hold loosely to the things of this earth and to help us yearn for Him and for “Home”!

When you boil it down, every great thing was born out of someone else’s suffering. How so? Well, for example, in order to perform the first heart transplant someone had to die! Braille was created for and is a help to the blind today because someone lost their sight. We would never be able to receive eternal life were it not for the suffering of our Savior.

Consider this:
“No words can express how much our world 'owes' to sorrow. Most of the Psalms were conceived in a wilderness. Most of the New Testament was written in a prison. The greatest words of God's Scriptures have all passed through great trials. The greatest prophets have "learned in suffering what they wrote in their books." So take comfort afflicted Christian! When our God is about to make use of a person, He allows them to go through a crucible of fire.” (George MacDonald)

This week our nation saw an event that was born out of many people’s suffering. Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln and many others on the battle field and on the streets suffered so that January 20th, 2009 could take place. Oh, the great joy of being free, as an American but much more than that, a Christian. To God be the glory.