There was a couple who loved to
visit England and shop in the beautiful stores. They both
liked antiques and pottery, especially teacups.
One day in a tiny shop they saw an exquisite teacup.
"Oh! May we look at that one?" they asked.
"We've never seen one quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke.
"I haven't always been a teacup, you know. There was
a time when I was raw, ugly clay. But my master picked me
up, moulded me and squeezed me over and over until I
cried out, 'Let me alone!'
But he only smiled, 'Not yet.'
"Then he placed me on a wheel," the teacup
continued, "and suddenly I was spun around and
around and around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I
screamed.
But the master said, 'Not yet.'
"Next he put me in the oven. I never imagined such
heat. I wondered why he wanted to incinerate me, and I
yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through
the window and I could read his lips as He shook his
head,
'Not yet.'
"Finally the door opened. He took me out of the oven
and put me on the shelf to cool. 'There, that's better,'
I breathed.
"But my relief didn't last very long, because the
next thing I knew, he was brushing me and painting me all
over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag.
"'Stop it, stop it!' I begged.
He only nodded, 'Not
yet.'
"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, but
this was much worse than the first time. This time the
oven was twice as hot and I knew that I would suffocate.
I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried.
All the time I
could see him through the opening shaking his head
saying, 'Not yet.'
"Then I realized there was no hope. I would never
make it. I was ready to give up.
"At that moment, the door finally opened and he took
me out and set me gently back on the shelf. Then, an hour
later he handed me a mirror and said, 'Now look at
yourself.'
"Curiously I peered into the mirror--and gasped at
my reflection, 'That's not me!" I exclaimed, "It
can't be me! It's beautiful!'
"'I want you to understand,' he said, 'that I know
how much it hurts to be moulded and shaped, but if I had
stopped, you would have dried into an ugly lump of clay.
I know that it made you dizzy to spin around on the
wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumpled. I
know that it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the
oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have had
no strength. I know that the fumes were terrible when I
brushed and painted you, but if I hadn't done that, you
would have never reached your potential, nor would you
have developed your own beautiful character. And if I
hadn't put you back into the oven the second time, you
would have eventually leaked and your color would have
faded away. But now you are a strong, beautiful teacup
fit for use at the finest table.'
"'You
are now what I had in mind when I first formed you.'"
Beloved, do not think it strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the
extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when
His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with
exceeding joy. I Peter 4:12-13
