The Parable of the Teacup

 

    

I'd like to encourage you to come out to our Wednesday night Bible studies, if you do not already do so!  We are very blessed with teaching leaders who really dig into the Word of God each week.  The teaching and fellowship with our church family is such a needed boost to my heart in the middle of busy weekdays.  It is a reset of my  spiritual focus, and I am so very thankful for the studies that the teachers bring each week.  This week's devotional is not written by me, but I found it to be a wonderful extension of our recent study in the book of Job, led by Brother Tyler on Wednesday nights. I pray that it will bring a greater love and trust in our Creator God to your heart, as it did mine.  

   "The Parable of the Teacup"

There was a couple who used to go to shop in beautiful antique stores.  One day the woman saw a beautiful china teacup.  She picked it up to admire it and was startled when the teacup suddenly spoke to her.

“I see that you admire my fine china quality and rich design.”  Notice the intricacy of my pattern, the gentle curve of my handle.  I am indeed a treasure but you may not fully understand how I came to be this beautiful teacup.”  It said.  “I wasn’t always a teacup, in fact there was a time when I was just a red clay ball.  My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out, ‘Let me alone.’  But he only smiled, ‘Not yet.’

“Then I was placed on a spinning wheel,” the teacup said, “and suddenly I was spun around and around and around.  ‘Stop it!  I’m getting dizzy!’  I screamed.  But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’

“Then he put me in the oven.  I’d never felt such heat!  I wondered why he wanted to burn me.  I yelled!  I knocked at the door!  I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, ‘Not yet.’

“Finally the door opened, and he put me on the shelf and I began to cool.  ‘Ahhh, that’s better,’ I said.  Then he brushed me and painted me all over.  The fumes were horrible.  I thought I would gag.  ‘Stop it!  Stop it!’ I cried.  He only nodded, ‘Not yet.’

“Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one.  This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate.  I begged.  I pleaded.  I screamed.  I cried.  All the time I could see him through the opening saying, ‘Not yet’.

“Then when I thought I knew there wasn’t any hope.  I thought I would never make it.  I was ready to give up, the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf.  One hour later, he held me in his strong hand and he smiled as he handed me a mirror and said, ‘Look at yourself!’ and I did, and I said, ‘That’s not me, that couldn’t be me!  It’s beautiful.  I’m beautiful!”

“My master held me delicately as he explained, “I know it hurt you to be rolled and patted, but if I just left you as a red clay ball you would have dried up.  I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.  I know it hurt you and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked.  I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn’t done that, you never would have hardened.  You would not have had any color in your life, and if I hadn’t put you back in that second oven you would not have survived for very long because the hardness would not have held.  Now you are a finished product.  You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.”

“Then the master heated a cup of boiling water and put some tea leaves in me, and as he poured boiling water into me, the splendid aroma wafted up to him and he smiled, and I could tell he was well pleased with me.”

May we trust the Potter's Hand and yield ourselves to His plan, even in the hardest trials. 

💓 Heather Sparks💓