Think about where you feel afflicted right now. What comes to mind? Is it financial—more bills than money at the end of the month? Maybe it’s physical suffering: the doctor still doesn’t know what’s wrong. Or maybe they know what’s wrong, but just can’t make it right. Perhaps it’s relational. Your in-laws are alienated; your teenager seems intoxicated by the world; your adult child won’t speak to you.
The circumstances under which leaders suffer can vary dramatically, but we all share one thing in common. Our earthly bodies–our clay pots– often feel broken. Growing older means more cracks.
What does a leader do when they perceive the cracks?
1. Faith Speaks
In Psalm 116, David recounts a time of profound distress. We don’t know the whole story—possibly some life-threatening illness or danger from enemies. But David gets specific over the impact: “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.” (v. 3)
Then David does something entirely counter-intuitive. He speaks. The cracks make him cries out. David calls upon the name of the Lord (v. 4).
Make no mistake, suffering is always vocal. Be it faith toward God or the unbelief behind godlessness, our burdens and broken places trigger an automated voice within our souls. We begin to interpret our experience. We set a trajectory toward God, or we fly blind and miss Him altogether.
David believed. Upon believing, he spoke vertically. He talked to God. Following David’s example, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:13-14:
“Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.”
Paul connects the cracks to his voice—and ours: “We also believe, and so we also speak.” What do we speak? Verse 14 gives the answer—we believe in a God who raises the dead.
When life and leadership cracks us open, God invites us to talk differently—more confidently Godward, more hopefully. Why? Because even when we’re surrounded by death, despair, and defeat, we believe a resurrection is ahead. That’s part of the conspiracy behind the broken pot.
Go back to where you are feeling burdened right now. Don’t just talk to yourself—listen attentively. Don’t vent. Or grumble. Resist complaining. You’re just like the rest of us. Right now there’s a mental voice discrediting others and ennobling you. And now it’s time to toss back the covers to start the day.
Pity the poor family member that has to greet that person in the morning. Or pity us when WE are that person! “Oh good, Mr. Happy-leader is awake, darkening our doorway with his godless angst!””
Words are windows to the soul. God invites us to reflect upon what our words reveal about our confidence in Him. “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good… for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45). What did your morning speech say about your heart? Your confidence in the Author and Finisher of faith? Does it suggest the faith of David and Paul, or the unbelief of those who don’t know God?
Faith and unbelief both speak. One of them always has the microphone. Paul Tripp says: “No one is more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you as much as you talk to yourself.
If your clay pot feels broken today, trust that God knows what He is doing. Let faith speak.
2. Faith Remembers
Unbelief always attacks your memory. It dulls your sense of what God has done for you and in you. It edits your past to erase His faithfulness. But faith? Faith gets historical.
“Knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also.” (v. 14)
That’s resurrection history. And that’s our hope.
Is someone close to you breaking right now? Maybe they say, “I hate that I live with depression.” God might whisper, “That darkness isn’t a flaw—it’s your credential of weakness. It’s the place where My power is made perfect. It’s your appointment with grace” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Don’t let them write self-loathing into the gospel. This isn’t my self-hate plus God’s power equals His glory. No, the gospel is: God places His treasure in jars of clay. He empowers them. He entrusts them with mission. That’s glory.
Speak to them—remind them of Jesus, raised from the dead. Help them remember. Get historical.
Once a friend made this wry comment while his wife stood by: “My wife doesn’t get hysterical. She gets historical!” Everyone laughed. We all stood guilty. When marriage doesn’t deliver on our dreams, we search the files for offenses.
But getting historical over other people’s clay only reveals resentment. Going historical with the gospel, however, becomes gold in suffering.
3. Faith Anticipates
Verse 14 doesn’t just look back—it leans forward. “The Lord Jesus will raise us also… and bring us with you into his presence.”
God loves resurrections. Not just the big one after death, but He delights to import that future into our present. Paul discovered this during his affliction in Asia. “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself… But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us… and He will deliver us again.” (2 Cor. 1:8-10)
Faith anticipates God’s goodness, even when ministry feels fruitless and the clay pot seems shattered. There is a resurrection coming. It may come immediately. But if not, that’s where this journey is headed.
Every time your pot breaks, remember—it’s not the end. You’re not home yet.
Around the turn of the 20th century, Teddy Roosevelt and missionary Henry Morrison were on the same boat returning from Africa. Roosevelt was met with a massive crowd and fanfare. Morrison was met by no one. Disillusioned, Morrison felt forgotten. Then he heard a still, small voice: “Henry… you’re not home yet.”
That’s what faith does. It anticipates our journey’s end. It remembers Christ’s resurrection and awaits our own. It waits without whining. It speaks courage to calamity. And in those moments where the clay pot feels ready to collapse, it whispers words that strengthen souls: We’re not home yet.
* My latest book, The Clay Pot Conspiracy: God’s Plan for Using Weakness in Leaders was released this month. If this article piqued your interest or curiosity, please purchase a copy for you or someone who needs it.
