Chafing

After 2 Corinthians 12

I chafe against my weakness,

my weaknesses, my failures,

my shortcomings, my faults, I must

hide them, deny them, conceal

my doubts and incompetence,

my inabilities, my frustrations,

my falling short of everything

I attempt to do. I chafe against

all of it, all of them because

to admit any of it

or all of it, is to admit

the source of all that is good

does not come from me.

I am an earthen vessel,

an earthen pot, something

to be filled, a flawed vessel,

too, something to be used.

It is not me,

it has never been me.

Another power is perfected

in me, not mine but

his, never mine,

always his.

Photograph by Oscar Keys via Unsplash. Used with permission.