“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
2 Corinthians 4:7 ( NLT)
Although the word “resilience” is not mentioned in this scripture verse, it is certainly implied. We are like fragile clay jars, who hold within our hearts the powerful light of Christ, who is our treasure of resilience. Webster’s dictionary defines resilience as the ability to recover, spring back or recoil after some sort of compressive stress.
Compressive stress could mean the intense pressure or trials that everyone goes through at some time. Although we may feel like frail, breakable clay jars, God gives us the grace of resilience, and strength to recoil and spring back. I believe we are all more resilient than we think we are. While we may get tossed about in the eye of the storm, resilience has a way of developing within us, over time, as we recoil and recover.
Our mind, emotions and bodies are like the fragile clay jars that Paul writes about, but resilience comes from someplace deep within our spirit, which is in union with the Spirit of God. We have resilience because of Christ and His light that dwells within our clay jars.
Resilience is a mystery because it seems to emerge when we don’t recognize it. Like David, we face giants from time to time, but are not trying to be heroic. We simply put into action, the stone in our hand and the mustard seed of faith in our heart, and God does the rest. The power to overcome giants comes from the power of Christ’s light within us. It’s what keeps us moving forward, one day at a time.
It’s not positive thinking or mind over matter. It’s not some “thing” that empowers us, it’s “someone”, and His name is Jesus. Whether the giant we face is a medical problem, the loss of a loved one, a financial burden or any other source of anxiety, our spirit is becoming resilient through it.
I remember the anxiety of taking on the first time role as a primary caregiver for my husband in 2019. I watched the rapid progression of his disease, ALS. A caregiver’s job is not without sleepless nights, financial worries, and continual adjustments to the medical equipment brought into the home. There are exhausting daily routines, with little time to leave the house or run errands.
On top of that, there’s a sadness in watching your loved one suffer with an illness that has no cure, but even in the darkest places, the light of Jesus is deep within our frail and fragile clay jars. Some days it feels like our jar is about to crack, but through every stage of pressure, He gives us resilience, helping us to spring back and recoil.
This verse defines it:
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
(2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
We will surely be perplexed but we will never be abandoned because Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. His powerful light of love dwells deep within our clay jars. He holds us together, and will never let us go.
Lord, thank you for the treasure of resilience, even when we are unaware of having it, and for your light that dwells within us, giving us the power to overcome all things in your name. Amen
