A Cracked Pot Still Pours – The beauty of being used in our brokenness

Once upon a hillside in ancient Judea, a woman carried a clay jar, kad, a common vessel made of earthen material. It was chipped on one side, worn thin at the lip from years of service. Yet each day she carried it to the well, drew water, and carried it home again. And though it leaked a little along the way, it did its job. It delivered life-giving water. She never threw it out. Why? Because it still poured. The jar, imperfect as it was, served a purpose that no other vessel could replace. Every crack, every worn edge, bore witness to years of faithful labor and devotion.

So many of us are that jar.

We are shabar, broken in Hebrew, not just cracked but shattered at times. From the root shābar, meaning to break in pieces. Yet in the hands of the Master Potter, yatsar, He who forms us as in Genesis 2:7, “And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,” our brokenness becomes the avenue of His grace. He does not discard us because we are chipped, worn, or leaking. He holds us tenderly, shapes us gently, and places the treasure of His Spirit within us, knowing that our cracks will allow His light and life to flow outward.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:7, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” The Greek for “earthen vessels” is ostrakinos skeuos, fragile, baked clay jars. Not silver, not gold, but brittle, common pottery, like you, like me. The choice of this word is deliberate. The power of God does not reside in things of perfection or in human strength. It resides in weakness, in fragility, in vessels that can break and still carry the weight of eternal purpose.

The beauty is in the contrast. The “treasure” inside, thēsauros, the same word Jesus used for heavenly riches, is placed on purpose inside weakness. God is not hindered by our cracks. In fact, He uses them. Without the brokenness, the water of life does not spill out on others. Without the wound, His light cannot shine through. The imperfections of our lives are not obstacles but conduits for His glory. Every scar, every flaw, every moment of weakness becomes a channel through which God pours His life and grace to those around us.

Psalm 34:18 reminds us, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” The Hebrew for “brokenhearted” is nishbar lev, literally a heart that is shattered. Yet He is close. The word “near” is qarov, meaning intimately close, at hand, like a whisper from the lips of a lover. God’s nearness is not theoretical or distant. It is intimate, tangible, ready to meet the needs of hearts that feel beyond repair.

When Yeshua met the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, she too was a cracked pot. Rejected, scandalized, hiding from the crowd. But in her encounter with mayim chayim, living water, Yeshua poured something eternal into her. And through her brokenness, an entire village heard the Gospel. He never told her to fix herself first. Instead, He met her where she was, with all her shame and scars, and offered her something that could never be taken away.

Isaiah 57:15 speaks to this upside-down Kingdom truth, “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit.” “Contrite” in Hebrew is dakka, meaning crushed to powder, trampled. He dwells with the trampled. The Kingdom of God honors humility, weakness, and surrendered hearts. Those whom the world overlooks or scorns are often the very vessels God chooses to display His power and mercy.

We cover our scars, but Yeshua still wears His. The resurrected Christ showed Thomas His wounds, not as proof of weakness, but of victory. John 20:27 records Yeshua saying, “Reach here your finger, and see My hands, and reach here your hand and put it into My side.” Those marks were not erased. They were honored. In the wounds of Christ, we see the glory of God revealed. Pain, suffering, and brokenness are not meaningless. They are sanctified, eternal, and redemptive.

In biblical times, when a kli, a vessel, was broken, a potter could grind it to dust and make new clay. But sometimes a special vessel was repaired for sacred use. The cracked vessel was not tossed aside. If it belonged to the temple or had been anointed, it could be restored for holy work. The principle of restoration is deeply rooted in Scripture. Brokenness is never the end. It is the beginning of a new purpose, crafted by the hands of God.

We are that temple now. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” The Spirit does not just dwell in pristine cathedrals. He resides in you, even if you are limping from the past, patched with prayers, held together by grace. God’s temple is living, breathing, and made of fragile clay that carries the weight of His glory.

Jeremiah 18:4 gives the scene, “But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.” That Hebrew word again, yatsar. Formed. Re-formed. The same hand that shaped Eden’s dust still shapes you. Every crack, every flaw, every moment of brokenness is under His careful craftsmanship. Nothing is wasted.

Do not despise your cracks. They are the lines through which His light escapes. Psalm 147:3 declares, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” “Binds up” in Hebrew is chabash, to wrap or gird, the same word used for priests preparing sacred things. Your healing is holy. The process of restoration is sacred. God’s Spirit works through it to prepare you for a purpose that is eternal.

So if you are feeling cracked today, like your usefulness is over, your purpose long past, remember: a cracked pot still pours. You were never called to be perfect. You were called to be poured out. And if you are leaking, that is the overflow of grace. The world is thirsty. Let it spill. Your imperfections, your scars, your brokenness, are exactly what God uses to quench the thirst of those around you.

Let your pot flow with love and mercy toward others. Share the love!

Image is chatgpt generated precisely for this teaching. i.e. my instructions.