a broken vessel

We are imperfect, broken vessels.

Yet still God uses us. 

He allows us to be imperfect vessels in His perfect hands. He allows us to participate in the story He is writing in the world and in those around us. He pours into us and lets His love and purpose flow out of us. 

Being God's vessel is a beautiful testament to His goodness and power.

"Though I'm not perfect, You are enough. A broken vessel not fit for use, but still You fill me up." ~Faithful God by David Keener

As a vessel, we have no use for self-reliance and pride whether that manifests as insecurity or arrogance. We need never look to our failings but to His wonders. We need never strive or perform in and of ourselves; we are meant to receive. We are meant to be filled and to overflow. It's not about who the vessel is but about who the One doing the work is. 

Because of God's kindness, what we do flows from God and points others back to Him. 

But sometimes those who point us to God end up turning away from Him. 

Whether strongholds of sin are revealed or their hearts change or their faith was only an act, community affects us, and it hurts when those who led us closer to God draw away from Him.

Church Hurt is a part of too many Christians' stories. 

Who hasn't had a spiritual role model who let them down? Who hasn't seen a loved one who inspired them turn from their faith? Who hasn't seen a false, Christian exterior fall from someone who proclaimed God for so long? Whether a turn to bold sin or subtle disunity with God's heart, we've all had important figures who cultivated our faith betray it.

It can be heart-wrenching and devastating to see someone who led us to God turning away from Him. But when we look to a person as the source of the transformation within our spirit instead of to the God who changes us, it can also be dangerous.

It can rock are faith. It can lead us to question them, their role in our lives, ourselves, and our God. It can make everything they taught us feel like a lie. It can lead us to fear, to apathy, to anger. It can obliterate whatever remains of the relationship or leave us following in their footsteps. And it can lead us into isolation, away from the community where our hurt was born. 

But our faith is never centered or founded in those around us. Our faith never relied on them. Rather, God used them to pursue us and lead us to His heart. And He is always, always secure. Our world need not be rocked because our God is the solid Rock, and its on Him and His works that we stand. 

This is essential for holding fast to God when what we thought was steady proves shifting. 

And it's on that foundation that we grieve.

Unfortunately, all of us will probably walk through betrayal from a spiritual mentor or friend or loss of someone we love from our spiritual community. And we have to be prepared.

What do we do when this happens?

We remind ourselves who God is and . . . 

We mourn. We cry out to God. We ask Him to help us navigate grief without falling into despair. We process, and we keep processing, and we pray, pray, pray. For their hearts and for ours. For our hearts to hold fast to God and for theirs to be restored to Him.

We cannot protect ourselves from community. With it will come great joy and great loss, and yet no matter how much pain comes from community, community will always be the source of healing.

It's a gift, but it's a gift that comes with cost. A cost that we rarely see coming, yet of which we cannot live in anticipation of without missing the very gift.

We are made for each other. God designed us for community, and He uses us within community. And it's worth coming back to.

But the cost can't be ignored.

Feel the hurt. Don't brush it aside. Grieve the loss of your spiritual mentor or friend.

But do it in the certainty of God's unchanging character and truth. And do it surrounded by a community who can hold you as you do.