A Tale of Two Pails

"Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."
(Psalm 126:5,6)

I want to share a Jewish story with you. It is called, A Tale of Two Pails. This story is like a parable in that it teaches a spiritual truth about brokenness.

In the story, a gentleman (the Master)carried two pails of water each day to the people in his community. Day after day he made the trek. One day the pail on the right side of the pole fell off and cracked.

But the Master didn't throw the pail away; he continued to use the broken pail to carry water to the people.

Every day he made the trek with the two pails of water.
Every day the broken pail dripped water along the path.

When the Master arrived at the people's homes, the bucket on the left was full and had plenty of water to share. The pail on the right had only a small portion of water left because it had dripped water along the journey.

One day the broken pail said to the Master, "Master, I am no good to you. I am broken. Please, just throw me away." And the Master replied, "Don't you know how good the world has become because of your brokenness? Please, come with me. Let me show you how beautiful the world is because you hung from my pole on the right side of the road, right where I put you. Do you see the flowers there? Every place you dripped through your brokenness, I planted a seed. Because you were broken, the dry, barren ground was watered and a flower bloomed."

Do you love this story as much as I do? Can you see the image of sowing in tears because of brokenness? Now, open your eyes to see the beauty and joy that results when the Master uses your brokenness for His glory.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy...

"For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." (Galatians 5:22,23)

Sounds like a good harvest to me.

Father, What a beautiful illustration this is. Thank You. We want to run from our brokenness, to rid ourselves of the pain. But You want us to see that our brokenness produces beauty in our lives...IF we let You comfort and restore us. Help us see the fruit of our tears. Open our eyes that we might see. Thank You, Lord.