There's a Crack in Your Armor Perry Stone

heated for final hardening and public service, the heat can cause the vessel to have a place of weakness, which could make the vessel unusable when it is placed in use. I view these small stones as the “weight, and the sin” that Hebrews 12:1 says can easily ensnare us or weigh us down and cause us to slow our pace in the race. Vessels can also be marred, and these are a picture of the character flaws in a person’s life. They are many younger believers who desire to be used of God in a public setting— such as a worship leader, teacher, pastor, youth minister, missionary, and so forth. However, they are marred or have flaws and rough edges they must work on before being placed in a public setting. I know of at least one minister of music who was fresh out of four years of college with a degree and was hired as music minister at a church with a large church choir. In one year’s time the choir went from seventy-five members to twenty and almost caused a split in the church. The young man was a novice, lifted up in pride, and he refused to communicate with the choir members properly. He passed the grade with his book knowledge but failed the grade with his practical knowledge. This is why Paul warned that you must be careful placing a novice (a newly planted believer) in an important position within the church, as he or she can become lifted up in pride (1 Tim. 3:6). When David was at the lowest point of his life as a result of his sins, he wrote, “I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I have like a broken vessel” (Ps. 31:12). Any object made of clay or glass can be broken. Glass can crack if the temperature moves from one extreme to another. Clay vessels can crack by