A woman had two large pots, and she trudged to the well each day to get water with one pot hung on each end of a pole which the woman carried across the back of her neck and shoulders. One of the pots had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. By the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full, which caused the woman to struggle under the unbalanced weight of the pots.

Every day, the woman complained about the cracked pot as she filled it, knowing it would not hold all the water she placed in it. She complained about the potter who made it, blaming him for not making it more durable. She complained about her husband, who insisted there was not enough money to replace it. She complained as she trudged back to her house with the unbalanced load, and as she emptied the water into the barrel at home, she complained that she did not have more.

For a full two years this went on daily with the woman ending up with only one and a half pots full of water to use at home.

One day, the woman wept as she turned from the well to return home, noticing the stream already falling from the cracked pot. As she trudged along the path with her head hung in weariness, she noticed one side of the path was bursting with the colors of budding flowers. The beauty of the flowers was stark against the otherwise parched land. She hadn’t noticed the flowers until today, perhaps because she had been so focused on complaining about her cracked pot.

As she walked the path lined on one side with flowers, she realized the flowers were being nourished by the small stream of water running from her cracked pot. That day, when she returned home and emptied the half-filled cracked pot, she smiled, knowing where the remaining water had been left along the path and the purpose it had fulfilled as she walked home. (Author Unknown)

What flaws do you complain about the most?

How extensive is your complaining? Do you find ways to complain about a variety of people and situations, all related to the same flaw(s)?

How can you begin to see the beauty that may result from the flaw(s)? What will you require before changing your attitude?

Each of us has flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But when we allow God to work in and through our weaknesses, amazing beauty results!