I had the privilege yesterday of bringing a devotion to the Caldwell-Middleton CFC Seniors Group that meets twice a month. God told me to change the devotion I had ready, and instead tell the story of my experience with the “earthen vessels” at the Boise Art Museum (BAM). A lot of you have heard it, but for those who have not, here it is once again.
It was during a visit with my grandson that I had one of the most profound experiences with God I have ever had. A new exhibit featured an artist who worked with glass vessels. There were glass vases and jars of different shapes and sizes. Each one was lit and featured a woodland scene, blue skies, green forests, woodland animals, birds, lakes circling the vessel.
Initially I though the artist painted those scenes on the outside of the vase, but when I went into the viewing room to see how these pieces of art were created … I found I was wrong. The video showed the artist blowing glass and creating each vessel individually – all shapes and sizes.
After that, he took paint and completely covered the glass, one color on top of the previous color. Then he took a scoring tool and began to cut through the various colors until he found the color he wanted to create a sky, lake, bird, tree, or animal. Some cuts were shallow, some bore down very deep until a beautiful picture emerged around that vessel. The last step was to place a light inside each one; the places that were cut the deepest revealed the brightest light.
As I sat there watching these vessels turn from nothing into works of art, I was overcome by the Presence of the LORD and thought of the Scripture found in 2 Corinthians 4: “For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” [vs6-7 NKJV]
I heard Him whisper to me that I was seeing through this artist’s work, the very work He was doing and would continue to do in my life. The places of the deepest wounds, the deepest cuts from circumstances and trials, is where His light would shine the brightest.
Some of us have been deeply scarred by life. We have journeyed through grief, battled sin, been discouraged, faced trials of all kinds. Beloved, it is in those deep places that the greatest glory of God will shine through.
