Broken bowl and the Potter

The simple Indonesian rice bowl broke. 

It was a “free with purchase of dish detergent” blue and white china bowl. So common and ordinary. A reminder of my childhood. 

But it slipped from my hands, hit the marble countertop in our Delhi flat and broke in two. The last straw in a long day, week, month…year. 

And I broke.

Ordinary, simple vessel on the floor in pieces. 

Inadequacy

Was I clinging too much to how things should be and missing how they really are? 

I wanted to give up. Buy a ticket to somewhere safe. Maybe there—wherever that was—I would not be consumed with fear of inadequacy to handle our situation. Maybe there we could start again and figure out the best plan for our family. 

My loving husband who wants to fix things in the midst of the unfixable glued the bowl together. Tender and thoughtful, knowing this was something deeper than a piece of broken china. 

The Potter’s way

I looked at his work and thought of my Potter. He takes broken pieces into His hands with love. And I can rest there. Trusting Him to mold and shape me, make me His usable vessel. No matter how complex the situation.  

And sometimes it’s the brokenness that breaks my pride and makes His glory more evident to those around me.  His radiance has a way of illuminating over and around and through our fragile places.

“For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).

Faithful and true

I’m looking back now. Remembering. Finding it hard to believe that was only four years ago. There were no quick fixes that day of the broken china bowl. But our loving Father was with us. Holding us in His hands.

Walking, we waited. And waiting, we kept walking. He worked His way in His time.

I remember. And this I know: He is faithful and true. 

What about you?

Have you walked or stumbled through a season of brokenness in your life? Something you can’t fix? Are you in such a season now? The Father sees. He knows. Trust Him with every fear and every broken piece. Great is His faithfulness.

Related post:  Waiting for the Lord