Few buildings rival Solomon’s Temple. It included the Outer Courts, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. Within the temple, God instructed the people to use candles for light—ten “golden lampstands” with seven candles on each one. That’s 70 lamps burning pure olive oil. These beautiful menorahs were huge, each made of 75 pounds of gold.
In the New Testament, God has chosen to place His Light not on a golden lampstand but in the hearts of His children. Why? So His light can be seen by the lost.
And when does the light within you shine the brightest? When you suffer—because when believers endure hardships, more light escapes. When a believer suffers, people pay attention. They watch how you respond. They see how you handle fear, grief, anger, and loneliness, and sometimes that causes them to say, ‘I need whatever he has.’
“Now we have this treasure in jars of clay, so that the extraordinary power may be seen to be from God and not from men. We are pressured in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed. We always carry about in our bodies the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be revealed through us” 2 Corinthians 4:7.
We are not golden lamps. We are jars of clay. God put the LIGHT of eternal, infinite truth inside brittle people made of clay. “Cracked Pots,” one writer calls us. The more cracked the pot, the more light escapes. Clay is opaque, after all. No light escapes a solid clay pot. But the more broken the clay is, the more useful it becomes as a light source.
While searching online for a “terra cotta wall sconce” (a fancy way of saying a clay pot with a candle inside), I found the picture above. Clay is not see-through. But light can pass through holes in clay. Just as God’s light passes from you to others through the “holes” left in you by your suffering.
When you suffer, God will use you to light the way for everyone around you. God’s light shines brightest when it shines from inside a broken pot.
Dear God, give us courage and faith when we face trials, and remind us that we are the light of the world. We are available and willing—use us to help others find Christ.
ΑΩ
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