Still Standing (Friday Devotional)

 

But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed, perplexed but not driven to despair, persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed, always carrying around in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For we who are living are always being handed over to death for Jesus’s sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal flesh.

- 2 Corinthians 4:7-11

We want people to see us at our best. That’s why we clean the house before company comes over, why we don’t show up to job interviews in gym shorts, why we take family photos in matching outfits in autumnal fields. Pride demands that we cover up or hide our flaws rather than allow them to be seen by those we’re certain will judge us.

But sometimes, the disclosure of imperfections can actually tell a greater story than the tidier one we might otherwise put forward. Think of the Liberty Bell, for example. Its original use was simply to call people together to Independence Hall in Philadelphia; it was no more notable than an alarm clock would be today. But the famous crack it developed in the 1840s—even as the nation itself was splintering between North and South—gave the bell new meaning. Its survival as an imperfect but still resonant instrument has come to symbolize the liberty we hold dear—not in spite of its crack, but because of it.

For Christians, there is sometimes an expectation that the same God who washes away our sin will also take away our problems, that we will go straight from the waters of baptism to showers of earthly blessings. Having heard so much about God’s goodness and his grace, we come to believe that our relationship with him entitles us to an easier ride through the rest of life. We think he’ll ensure we never suffer a crack.

But though God could do that—and there are certainly times we wish he would—he more often goes a different direction, toward redemption instead of escape. Believers continue to face the same perils and temptations, the same hurts and heartaches, the same tough world as everybody else. But we do so with newfound hope in our hearts, with divine strength in our spirits, with incomprehensible joy. We are able to persevere—not because of our own tenacity, but because the crucified Christ is with us as we suffer.

Ours is a story of imperfect people saved and sustained by a perfect God. So in a culture that prefers a pristine façade to messy reality, don’t be afraid to tell the truth about who you are in Christ: a sinner saved by grace. Your road won’t always be easy, but God will go with you every step of the way.