The Art of Kintsugi and the Greatest Artist
by Kelly Rundell
Picture by: ededchechine
There is a Japanese practice called Kintsugi that I find quite captivating. Kintsugi is where a piece of broken pottery that would normally have been thrown away will instead be mended together with gold. Golden strands are woven into lines where the breaks connect, leaving the piece more valuable and stronger than before.
The word Kintsugi is also known as “golden repair”. Each piece is unique in its result as the lines from the different places of breakage and trauma, but they share the golden decoration where they have been put back together with gold. Upon hearing about this interesting and beautiful practice, I thought of the picture of 2 Corinthians 4:7-12.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”
We all know the weakness of being jars of clay at some place in our lives, and here in this passage, we find steadfast hope in the Lord at work, strengthening us in the most sensitive and weak areas of our souls. When we feel broken by the hard things we face, we must lift our eyes to the Lord who is at work in them. Just like the pottery that is mended with gold to be a stronger and more beautiful new creation, the Lord is continuing to work out our salvation and mending us back together in sanctification. He is using something more precious than gold to make us less like the old creation and more like the new, made to be in perfect, wonderful fellowship with Him.
“Treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing glory belongs to God and not to us” - 2 Corinthians 4:7
Who of us is not weak in some way?
The world regards weakness with shame and scorn. The world tells us that when we suffer, we have choices of how we can respond, either by staying stuck in the suffering or overcoming it by adapting. This is absolutely true, but there are some distinct differences for those who are in Christ.
For those in Christ, weakness, (whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual) is not an area to be ashamed or afraid of. It is an opportunity to be made stronger by the Lord who indwells us. For believers, it is the Lord that we depend upon to bring our healing, hope, and restoration, not just our choices and a willpower that is frail, faulty, and flawed.
What happens when our willpower or choices fail? For those who depend solely on themselves, they are in a dire place. For the believer, as Psalm 73:26 states,
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”.
There is rest for God’s children, even as we struggle and fight to move forward and endure suffering. We always have available to us the place of rest in God’s steadfast love and grace.
In the world, trauma and people are credited with bringing strength and rebuilding. Yet, for those in Christ, it is our Savior who gets the glory for our change, perseverance, and hope. Suffering and weakness are places that we are given in order to know more deeply, and to show more clearly the power of our God. The foundational difference is that we trust in something outside ourselves, where unbelievers have only their own finite strength, knowledge, and power to rest in and point to. Theirs is a treasure that can be worn out, lost, or stolen. Ours is a treasure that is untouchable, because it is from the hands of the Almighty, Infinite, Holy God of the universe, our Abba Father.
A good question for any of us is, to whom does your gold point to? This can reveal where we look for our healing and restoration – self, or God, the loving, all powerful, holy, creator.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.” - 2 Corinthians 4:8
Affliction has the power to break us, yet our heavenly Father does not allow it. He may permit us to be knocked down, but it is His power and Spirit that draws us up again. He ministers to us so that we will again lift our voices in worship, faith, and hope where there is none circumstantially.
I have heard a quote that said something like, “When you are knocked down in the dirt, worship from there.” It is the Lord who works this kind of praise from the lips of the afflicted!
I remember a time when I saw everything get worse with each passing prayer. I was down in the dirt, and my only prayer at the time was, “Dear Lord, I know you are worthy of my trust right now, but I cannot lift my eyes to you anymore, would you please do it for me?” He did lift my heart, even as the dire circumstances continued to darken. Some of those clouds have lifted for now, but I am confident that I will continue to need lifting, and that He will surely do it.
“Perplexed but not in despair” - 2 Corinthians 4:8
When I think about being perplexed, my thoughts always land on the long-suffering days of despair in depression, or the ongoing exhausting pressure of anxiety.
I have walked with believers who have known great delight in the Lord and fellowship with Him, but also have had long seasons of suffering deep, enduring, dark, soul crushing depression. These have been some of the darkest emotional and mental battles I have seen people face. One of the loudest and most consistent cries throughout this kind of trial is, “Why Lord? How long, Lord?”
Not only the person facing depression struggles, but loved ones around them also wrestle with these questions as they watch a once vibrant Christian filled with strength, love and zeal struggle to get out of bed in the morning. The darkness of the kind of thoughts believers face in these times are a Psalm 88 level of intensity that says, “ I cry out day and night before you.” It is an experience of Psalm 23’s, “valley of the shadow of death.”
Yet, in this pit of despair, the Lord does not leave His people. When suicidal thoughts are a constant companion, the question comes – (often from our own hearts) Why do you still trust in Him? By His grace we, like Peter can say “to whom would we go? You (the Lord) have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
Believers endure a sometimes long season of constant darkness. Though we are naturally overwhelmed with perplexation, the Lord meets us even there. He does not let us end in despair but lifts our eyes to Him even in the deepest part of the pit.
“Persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed.” - 2 Corinthians 4:9
Many people and things of this world will come against us and hate us because we belong to the Lord. We are persecuted by people and the powers of this dark world (Ephesians 6:12), and yet, the Lord never leaves His people.
I know there are Christians still tortured and persecuted for their faith, though I have not had the privilege of knowing them personally. If I am to ever face such a trial, it will be the Lord who gets me through faithfully and not my own strength. I have seen Christian brothers and sisters who have faced hatred and anger coming against them, and their hope is the same: the Lord’s steadfast never leaving love.
I have seen a wife abandoned by the man who vowed to care for her as he does his own body. Her will to keep going, as well as her continued moving toward him in love through biblical confrontation and care, were born out of the Lord’s steadfast love and empowering Spirit never leaving her.
I have watched a church torn apart by selfish ambition and vain conceit. The people they wounded, who were torn apart themselves, did not leave the Lord they loved. Although they went to different churches, they were all still worshiping the Lord, loving His people, and walking forward in faith. The Lord does not abandon His own, nor does He allow their destruction.
“For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’s sake so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” - 2 Corinthians 4:11
All these examples left significant pain and scars.They were each born out of times of trauma that resulted in brokenness.
Yes, there are lasting scars and sensitive spots, but there is also something much more. That depressed christian of deep faith traversed the valley of the shadow of death, and came out of it knowing she need not fear for her Shepherd was and is always with her.
There is real strength in the wife who seeks to walk rightly before the Lord and with wise counsel from godly brothers or sisters in Christ, seeks a loving course towards a husband who offers none in return. There are church going folks who have been beaten and bruised by factions in the church yet are showing up every Sunday at new places of worship, once again giving their hearts and lives to the building of the body of Christ.
I myself know that when I am beyond myself and lying face down in the dirt, that the Lord will lift my eyes so that I might continue to walk with Him from a place of worship and love that could only have been poured into me by His very Spirit. All of these people are people who have been broken by different kinds of trial and trauma, and yet the Lord has built them into stronger believers who bear the marks of His Spirit and love that put them back together.
We are meant to be jars of clay who carry around the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus might be manifested in us. Through us, others might be shown the glory and goodness of God as well.
It is the honorable purpose of the Japanese artist who takes broken pottery, and makes it something more by mending it with gold. How much more magnificent is it that the Creator of the whole world changes His people through their trials to build a stronger, more vibrant, knowledge and intimacy of Him and His glory.
If you are struggling and would like someone to walk you through how the Master Potter can mend your brokenness, please reach out for help today.
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