This week I’ll posting pictures from our recent vacation in North and South Carolina!

Do Not Lose Heart
2 Corinthians 4 

 “we do not lose heart,“ verse 4:1 

Last time we saw that Paul didn’t lose heart over the verbal attacks of the false teachers. He clung to his clear conscience. Later in the chapter, Paul speaks of another type of attack.  

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels (clay pots), so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body,” verses 7-12.  

He’s not much to look at 

The criticisms of Paul by the false teachers were many. First, he wasn’t much to look at. He was a frail shell of a man, always beaten down with bumps, bruises and scars.  Also, it seems at some point he developed an eye disease that was not pretty to look at all. He was tough as nails but physically beaten down. Looks shouldn’t matter but they do now and they did then. His opponents twisted his appearance as an indication that the blessings of God were not upon him. 

But wait, there’s more 

Other critiques directed toward Paul by his enemies included such statements as:  

• Why is Paul so despised and hated? If he is really from God, he wouldn’t have such opposition. 
• His messages are so divisive; he’s an extremist!  

Paul’s reply to the criticisms goes something like the following paraphrase:  

‘Well, I guess it’s true, I’m not much to look at. Yes, it seems I have a lot of bad luck and opposition. After all, my message is controversial and not widely accepted by the religious elite. I’m only an ordinary clay pot but that is the way God intended. There’s no glory for me and anything good that comes from my ministry is because of the power of God.’ 

We are only clay pots 

These clay pots were often used for storing garbage and human waste. God’s glory is revealed in the lowly, the plain and even the despised. Paul was afflicted, perplexed, persecuted and forsaken. He was knocked down but never knocked out. The same power that God used to create the world from nothing (verse 6) and the same power He used to raise Jesus from the dead (verse 14) is the same power at work in Paul…and in us. We shouldn’t think too much of ourselves. We are only clay pots. But we should think much of the power of God to use clay pots.

Power in weakness

In our weakness God uses us to shine the light of God’s glory into the hearts of the lost, even though we are ordinary clay pots. This way, the glory belongs to God and not to us.  

“Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.”  

Lord, may we not lose heart. May we not be seduced by the ups and downs of our circumstances. We often think of our frailties, trials and disease as weaknesses that hold us back.  But in You, they can be testimonies of your glory. You can create light out of darkness. You can turn death into life. Lord, today, may we not lose heart but rather be renewed. Amen.