I got this post from April at Blondin 3 Ring Circus. What a great story! With everything going on right now I REALLY needed this!
Please let me say in the beginning that I am giving you this story from a book I have at home......a book about depression and how to overcome it. The story goes as follows:
Many years ago in India, a water carrier trudged from his home to the river every day. There he would fill two huge clay pots with water and then put them on his shoulders, a stout pole holding them in place. He would then return to his home and use the water in his daily tasks.
One of the pots was always sad during the return trip. This is because small fissures ran across its surface, allowing water to leak out. By the time its master had gotten to his home, half of the pot's water was gone. Because it loved the master, this pot felt guilty for being such a poor container.
One day the pot got up enough courage to speak to its master. "Oh sir, I am so sorry to cause you so much trouble."
"What are you talking about?" asked the master.
The pot was ashamed. "Because I am such a poor container, I waste the precious water you gather. The cracks in my surface make me unworthy to help you anymore. I wish to be thrown away."
Smiling gently, the master said, "You have completely misunderstood. There are other pots without cracks I could be using. You have seen them by the side of the house. Haven't you ever wondered why I insist on using you instead of them?"
The pot had to admit it had often wondered this very thing.
"It's because you can do something for me none of the others can do."
"Me?" The clay pot was incredulous. "I have cracks and fissures that make me weak. How is this possible?"
"I am the master," the man replied. "I see and plan things you do not begin to understand. But this once, I will show you how you are uniquely valuable to me." And picking up the cracked clay pot, he began walking toward the river.
"Do you see how beautiful the flowers are on this road?"
The pot nodded with wonder. It had never really noticed the beauty evident on the journey to and from the river. Instead, it had always focused on its weaknesses.
"After filling you each day, I always make sure to put you on the shoulder closest to the side of the road. As I walk, your cracks and fissures allow the water to trickle out and nourish the soil between the river and our home. As a result, this portion of the land is more beautiful than any other."
The pot was stunned. "Do you mean to say I have had a part in bringing about this beauty?"
The master nodded. "It is only because of your system of cracks and fissures that these flowers have been able to bloom. Your weaknesses, given to me, have become your strengths. Through them, together we have created wondrous beauty!"
I am a cracked clay pot. Not a crackpot, mind you! But a vessel lined with cracks and fissures. When I focus upon my weaknesses, I never see the beauty in life's journey. When I place too much guilt upon myself, I never notice how God wants to use me.
But, when I give myself and my depression to God and allow him to use me - weaknesses and all - then he will begin to show how his strength is made perfect in me. He will draw my attention to the lives touched by my compassion and sensitivity. My heavenly Father, who loves me soo deeply allowed his only Son to die for me, and you, and will take yours and my weaknesses, and out of them create works of wondrous beauty.
I want to thank HIM for using me for his glory. And one more thing....Look UP and enjoy the journey!!!
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