The other day I accidentally dropped my glass in the sink and it cracked. The glass did not completely shatter but merely chipped on the top. Still it was now a chipped glass. The glass barely knocked the sink but it must have hit at just the right angle to chip a bit off the top.
Sometimes it seems as though our lives are similar to glass. We fall down a little and gently bump onto the floor yet end up having a bit of us chipped off.
We struggle to achieve our targets at work and a little faith is chipped off.
We come back home to our family and our child challenges our patience and a little love is chipped off.
We face some misunderstanding among our friends and a little trust is chipped off.
We feel that we can't go back to being full of faith, love, and trust anymore because of these experiences that we have been through.
No place for chipped glass
As I stared at the glass and wondered if we could use it for anything, the advise that I got was to just throw it away. Because it is chipped, it's dangerous and it could hurt us if I wasn't careful while handling it or especially if my little boys accidentally touched the chipped area, they could easily cut themselves.
I was thinking that we could recycle the glass but found out that broken glass should not be put in the recycling bin for it could be hazardous to the workers who sort them out. So while glass is a highly recyclable item, broken glass if wanted to be recycled needs to be handed with extra care. Often, it is recommended to wrap the chipped glass up and dispose of it instead of sending it for recycling.
Likewise, when we are 'chipped' in life, we oftentimes end up hurting the people around us. The lack of trust makes it hard for us to see the good in others. We end up doubting their sincerity when people are genuinely concerned. There doesn’t seem to be a place for us as everywhere we go, we hurt others and end up hurt ourselves.
We are not glass but clay
While we might see ourselves as glass, I’m so thankful the bible states in Jeremiah chapter 18, verses 3-5 that instead of glass, we are like clay with God as our potter.
So I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working with clay at the wheel. He was making a pot from clay. But there was something wrong with the pot. So the potter used that clay to make another pot. With his hands he shaped the pot the way he wanted it to be.
Unlike chipped glass that is thrown away, when there's anything wrong with clay - when it is marred, when it didn't go the way it should - the potter would just start anew with the SAME clay. Because God sees us as clay, He can mould us once again into a beautiful pot without blemish no matter how many hits and cracks we go through in life.
Out of the old comes the new
Job, a man who was chipped in so many areas of his life, from his career to his family, voiced out in Job chapter 10, verses 8-12 what we often feel when we 'fall and chip'.
Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether. Remember that you have made me like clay; and will you return me to the dust? Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese? You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit.
When we go through difficult times, we too feel like Job, that we are being destroyed and reduced to nothing. When this happens, we need to know who the potter is and that we are in great hands. After all, a new pot can only come to being when the old pot is being reduced to clay again at the spinning wheel in the trustworthy hands of the potter, our loving Father who preserves us through it all.
Esther Koh is a stay-at-home mum living in Wellington with her husband and two sons. She loves people and has a passion for helping others find their purpose for living.
Esther Koh’s previous articles may be viewed at