an alabaster jar. unbroken, it is a pretty bit of pottery. nice enough to look at. but the true purpose of this jar is not decorative, it is filled with a beautiful scent. but the fragrance can only be released when the jar is broken and the perfume inside is spilled out, poured out. then the true beauty is revealed, the purpose is complete. it is the same with a drink offering that is spoken of in the Old Testament and again by paul in Philippians 2. the drink offering is poured over a burnt offering, spilled out.
so, what does that have to do with me or this life or anything really? i personally am incapable of being a nurse and not engaging my heart with my patients and often their families. and often it leaves me with a level of brokenness. i am reminded of this after watching another family lose a child. after my own heartrending goodbye. i have a hard job...no one should have to watch a parent lose a child. but that is what God has given to me to do. and it hurts. i imagine if the alabaster jar could feel it would not want to be broken, it would hurt just as i do. but i choose the hurt, the breaking by the Father's hands so that i fulfill what He has given me to do and my beauty is revealed. i choose being poured out for His glory.
and it reminds me of the lyrics of shane and shane's song "i want it all"
use me, break me, waste me on You, Lord
ruin me, take me, waste me on You
for to die is to live...
paul said in his letter to the philippians that he had "learned the secret of being content in any and every situation..." i wish i could really say that i am content in every situation. but i have learned contentment in brokenness.
No comments:
Post a Comment