Treasure in Earthen Vessels

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves." (2 Corinthians 4:7).  As the inner prompting of the Lord has led me to honor my father, I took time with his best friend growing up to hear more of the story of who he really was over his short lifetime.  As we sat in a screened in porch area of an old golf club backing the 18th tee in the Georgia mountains there was calm in the air as I listened to the stories of my dad's best friend.  I got a very different picture in my mind than the one that had been imprinted on me of a father who abandoned me through suicide.  Here was a young man full of hopes, energy, compassion, fun, and good-hearted joking around finding his way in life.  This verse in 2 Corinthians is offensive to the values of our culture of self-effort, having it together, and not showing weakness.  I am coming to believe that we were made weak/earthen vessels (to depend on God), yet it is our humanity that we seem to be at war with instead of accepting it.  I believe the Lord directed me to this passage as I thought about seeing God's Spirit in and through my dad and his life, even though he ended his life in such a horrific way.  My dad's best friend continually pointed to this amazing spirit in my dad of compassion, giving of one's self, a search for greater enlightenment, and genuine desire to help people.  He circled back around in the conversation several times to my dad's boundless energy and all his ideas, that he admitted wore him out.  It is no wonder Jesus made a bold statement that He had come to give abundant life but just before had given a dire warning about the thief coming to steal, kill, and destroy.  Many years ago I went to visit my dad's grave site, still in the middle of years of grief dragging on like a comedy that is no longer funny.  As I stood that gray day at the family grave site and then found my dad's full-length grave stone, the Lord spoke deep in my heart that the passion that was in my father that was from Him did not die and that now this same passion lived in me.  As the Lord continues to refine the direction and call He has given me in life, my sense is this passion is the love of the Father for His people.  I believe it is the ultimate journey in every one of our lives to see the loving face of our Father and hear His life-giving words that become our very identity.  After this safe of life had shared his stories, insights, and memories about my dad, I asked him to pray for me sensing there was an important impartation of grace that he had been given through my dad to bestow on me.  This time not only helped to restore a missing piece in the puzzle but also gave me a deeper sense of who I was by seeing who God was in my dad's life.  Honoring him by seeing the treasure in him without stumbling over the reality of his humanity, especially how he see shortly cut his life off when I was only 6 years old.

Hearing Abba's Voice,
Bret