Broken Vessel

by Pastor Holly Johnson

I was reading an article this week about the increase in violence and aggression due to higher temperatures. Discomfort in our lives often causes us to respond inappropriately. It is amazing that something as simple as an increase in temperature can cause violence and aggression to soar. This provides a stark view of how men are so often led by their “flesh” rather than by the Spirit.

I am sometimes guilty of allowing my circumstances to direct my course. Sometimes I am driven by negative emotions and respond inappropriately to life events. So often in those painful, negative events, the Lord desires to expose things in my life that are contrary to His plan so that the darkness in me will be brought into His light and be dealt with. Often when I am overwhelmed by negative situations, the Lord reminds me of the story in Judges 7 (NAS) regarding Gideon’s army. Gideon came into a battle that was impossible in man’s eyes. Gideon was outnumbered and unqualified. In his “fleshly view” there was no possibility of victory. However, the Spirit sees our circumstances differently than our “flesh” sees them. As Gideon’s army came into the battle, their torches were enclosed inside of the pitchers. It was not until the vessel was crushed that the hidden contents – in this case light – came forth.

We must remember that we are His vessels (Romans 9:23, NAS) and that Jesus is the Light (John 1:4-9, NAS). As we are broken, He can be revealed. My desire is to allow the Lord to continue to break me through the very things that I dislike in my life. I pray that I will not become hardened, but that through my brokenness the Light of the world will shine forth and touch the lives of many!