By: Svetlana Papazov
When we are born our lives are like a beautiful vessel that holds enormous potential; a fine new pottery that has just come out of the hands of a maker ready to reflect the purposes and potential the maker had in mind for his exquisite creation. We are created for purposeful existence that puts on display the glory and beauty of our Heavenly Maker and desire the joys, successes, and expectations of a well-lived life.
But, in contrast to the finest dreams we envision for ourselves, often our lives look like a broken pottery. We hoped, planned, worked hard toward a successful future, but just one careless move, one tripping over a step, a bump in the road, an unexpected pothole, and this exquisite pottery is shattered. Our lives, our dreams, our hopes fall apart. Just like that. In a moment of tragedy what we dreamt about vanishes into thin air and an unsightly pile of sharp-edged, trashed ceramic pieces cover the path of our lives. And we cry inconsolably over the brokenness of our lives. We focus on the shards and we feel as though life is over for us. We think that we are forever broken. Restoration is a mirage.
There's a Japanese art called kintsugi that repairs the broken pieces and makes the scars even more beautiful by holding the brokenness with gold. When an object breaks, it doesn’t mean it is not useful any more. Its breakages can become valuable, Just like Jesus who picks up our broken mess and creates a masterpiece out of it. Every repaired piece is unique, because of the randomness with which ceramics shatters and the irregular patterns formed that are enhanced with the use of precious metals. The scars become what to exhibit. With this technique it’s possible to create true and always different works of art, each with its own story and beauty, thanks to the unique cracks formed when the object breaks, as if they were wounds that leave different marks on people. It is our experiences that make each of us uniquely precious, our sufferings that shape our character. When we seek to see Jesus in every circumstance in our lives, he can pick up our messed pieces and create a masterpiece.
Read Luke 19:1-10.
Jesus, a sought-out rabbi, entered the place where Zacchaeus, a designated sinner, lived and worked but he couldn't see Jesus.
Zacchaeus was short. He worked a job as a chief tax collector that disqualified him from hanging out with a rabbi and was surrounded by a crowd who blocked him from seeing the worth-meeting, life-changing Jesus, the rabbi.
There are 3 common sets of obstacles that can prevent us from seeing Jesus when he comes where we are.
1. Stature –in our physical realm there are things that are obstacles in life: short, tall, well or sick; white, brown, European, African, Asian, Native; male or female, etc. But when we focus on the obstacles we cannot see the opportunities. If Zacchaeus gave up because he was short in stature and settled for not seeing Jesus, his life was not going to change. So many times we miss the divine opportunities in life because we settle for the obstacle limitations that we encounter.
2. Structure – in our societal realm we often pit sacred versus secular. We view some jobs more sacred than others, or some societal structures as less sinful than others. Maybe some see education as better than business, or leading a nonprofit better than being a CEO of a corporation, etc. But we shouldn’t be looking for a sacred work environment in order to see Jesus entering that space. We should be seeking for the opportunity to integrate our faith in God in what we do at work so others can see Jesus in all sectors of society.
3. Spheres – in our social realm there are always a lot of people who separate us from Jesus. Some are close friends who think that you lost your mind to get up early on Sunday morning to go sing songs about God, read from the Bible, and talk about the God of the Bible. Sometimes it’s your coworkers, or your classmates that don’t understand your desire for Jesus. Other times it’s a religious crowd that claims a proximity to Jesus because they do better at life than you, making you feel isolated and unfit for their company thus you believe you are unfit for Jesus’ company.
When we focus on the obstacles, we cannot see the opportunities.
STORY
In communist Bulgaria I had a colleague friend who was interested to see what Jesus was about but couldn’t master courage to come to church because of his standing in society. He aspired to become a part of the communist party to advance his career and feared that an association with Jesus will prevent him from prospering in life. He gave up on Jesus and chose the communist party only to be disappointed as the party lost its reign in society shortly after he made his decision.
Q1: Do you see obstacles or opportunities?
Obstacles are hiding the opportunity to see who Jesus is. When we intently stare at the brokenness, Jesus’ wholeness disappears from our sight.
Don’t let the obstacles in your life define the outcomes of your life.
Reflection: Will you shift your gaze to see Jesus, The Restorer of broken lives?
Svetlana Papazov is Lead Pastor and Founder of Real Life Church, President/Founder of Real Life Center for Entrepreneurial and Leadership Excellence, a first of its kind model of church and business incubator that educates in entrepreneurship, leadership and faith praxis, and author of “Church for Monday.”