When the Treasure Is in a Cracked Pot

David Ring was born in Arkansas, and for the first

18 minutes of his the doctors thought he was dead. By the time

they got him breathing, the lack of oxygen had already done its

damage, and David had cerebral palsy. He grew up dragging one

leg when he walked, and his words came out slurred and

difficult to make out, which made him an easy target. Kids at

school would trail him down the hallway, copying the way he

moved and the way he talked, while everybody laughed. Then,

at 14, cancer took his mother, he had lost his father years

before, and now David was an He got low enough that he stopped

wanting to live. And then, of all the things a boy like that

might feel called to do, David became convinced that God was

calling him to preach. So, he went to his pastor to tell him

what God had put on his heart. He was not ready for what the

pastor said back. We'll come back to what the pastor said,

but

welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Léger. If

you've ever felt too broken to be of much use to God, I want to

show you how backward that fear is. David Ring isn't the only

man like this I've seen up close. Years ago, years ago in Bible

college, I knew a fellow student who also had cerebral palsy, and

who was just as sure God had called him to preach. He was

difficult to understand at first, but he had a knack for making

himself understood, and what stood out to me was his passion

and his sense of humor. I was pastoring then, so I invited him

to speak in chapel for our Christian school. When he

finished, a number of our students gave their lives to God.

The thing that should have kept him off a platform was what God

used to reach that room. A lot of us live with a scoreboard

running in the back of our minds. When God used to go through the

middle of our minds, we measure ourselves against the people who

seem to have it all together. The Christians who never seem to

falter or struggle. Then there's you with the anxiety you can't

shake, the marriage that almost ended, or the physical

disability. So you draw the conclusion. God can use the

people who seem to have it all together, and a crackpot like

feels like a different case. You decide you'll be useful once

you've cleaned yourself up, and you for a day that never comes.

Or you give up because your disability will never get better.

Paul turns that idea on its head. He's been through prison and

enough weakness to sink most people, and here's how he saw it.

Listen to 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7.

Don't miss the picture Paul paints. We're clay jars. Common

pots. The cheap kind you'd find in any ancient kitchen.

Then Paul says why. It's so that when people see the power, they

know it came from God and not from the container. The

plainness of the pot is the point. If God only used

impressive people, the ones without a crack to show, you

could hand them the credit. Their talent would explain it.

But when he fills a cracked pot and light pours out anyway,

there's only one place the glory can go. Here's what that means

for you. Your brokenness was never the thing keeping you out

of God's plans. In his economy, it's closer to a qualification.

The crack you've been ashamed of might be the exact place his

light gets out. David Ring's slurred speech became the reason

nobody could explain his preaching apart from God. You

were meant to bring your brokenness and be used anyway.

That's the whole plan.

and he kept telling him no. Over several visits, it got blunt.

And the last time, the pastor said that God had not called him

and never would, and that a boy like him had no business in the

pulpit. Go home, he said, and don't come back. David came back

the next Sunday anyway. He told that pastor he'd choke on every

one of those words because God had called him and that was the

end of it. And David was right. He's been preaching for more

than 50 years and he's preached in over 6,000 churches. them

laugh at him as a boy. He looks at those crowds and tells them

God has a habit of using the very things other people throw

away. Then he grins and delivers his signature line. I have

cerebral palsy. What's your problem? That's the

contradiction of the gospel. Paul said,

A plain, cracked pot could never explain it. David Ring's body

was supposed to be the thing that ruled him out. Instead, it

became the proof. Nobody watches a man like that preach for

decades and hands the credit to the man. Here's today's

challenge. Name the crack you've been treating as a

disqualification in your life. Maybe it's the weakness that

you're sure makes you less useful to God, less than anybody

else. Instead of hiding it or waiting to fix it first, offer

it to him on purpose.

Use it and let the light be clearly yours. small step you've

been putting off because you felt too broken for it.

Volunteer for the thing or say yes to the invitation you've

been ducking. You don't have to have it together at first. The

crack is how the light gets out. Father, thank you that you've

never needed us to be impressive. You put your treasure in clay

jars on purpose so the glory would clearly be yours. For the

person listening who feels too broken to be of any use to you,

Change how they see themselves. Show them that the crack they've

hidden is the place your light can pour out. Give them the

courage to offer you their weakness instead of waiting to

fix it. And use them, cracks and all, the way you've used

countless people before them. In Jesus' name, amen. If you need

prayer today, I'd love to hear from you. You can leave me a

voicemail at dailydevotionsforbusylives.com

slash voicemail. I listen to every single one, and it would

be an honor to bring your name before the Lord. Thanks for

joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, God

puts his treasure in cracked pots on purpose, so bring him

yours and let his light spill out. Come back next time for

more encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth.

Until then, God bless and have a great day.