Have you ever watched a skilled potter form a hunk of clay into a pot or a jar? Fascinating to watch, the potter uses his or her hands to shape and mold the clay until it becomes something useful and attractive. Around and around goes the wheel, every turn giving the potter an opportunity to make another unique feature in the raw material. It’s important for the clay to be flexible. Once it hardens, its shape can’t be changed.
Just as the clay forms in the hands of the potter, the Lord is shaping us. He is the potter; we are the clay. He is forming us into a vessel with a special purpose. Just as a potter has an end product in mind as he starts to work the clay, so God has an end product in his mind for each of us. He’s making us into something he can use. The key is to stay flexible! I used to have a sign in my office that said, “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Remembering that we are the clay means we don’t resist the shaping process God is taking us through. The clay doesn’t ask the potter, “Why did you make me like this?” We, as human clay, simply trust God, the Potter, to lovingly shape our lives. When we resist him, we are hardened and inflexible. We are saying, “We know better than the Potter.” I encourage you to yield to the Potter’s hand today. Everyday is like a turn of the Potter’s wheel. He has a plan and purpose for you. It is a better plan than we could possibly attain on our own. Without him, you are just a lump of clay. With him, you become a one-of-a-kind vessel with purpose and strength. Have you ever pulled on a stray thread and unraveled half of your sweater? It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. Just give it a little tug and things will be fine. Then suddenly the ordered whole becomes a tangled mess, and it seems impossible to put it back. The same thing can happen in our lives. The smallest mistake can sometimes turn out to unravel our whole life! Trying to fix it on our own, we make matters worse.
God has woven the fabric of our lives together. He is the one who made us and designed us. When a part of our life is out of order, we can be tempted to ignore it, deny it, or try to fix it ourselves. These methods are sure to just make the problem bigger. To fix a stray thread, I go to someone that knows something about needles and thread. The sooner I get professional help, the less damage has to be repaired. In the same way, when we see something wrong in our life we go to the one who created life. The sooner we come to Him, the less damage has to be repaired. The loose thread could be trouble in our home, or a physical problem or a financial need. Before it becomes a crisis, take it to God. He is able to mend the brokenhearted and repair any damage in our life. Not only does he make the repairs, he comforts us in our pain or loss. A daily time with the Lord helps keep our lives from unraveling. He is the Master Tailor and wants to help us keep our life in order. No repair is too small and no damage is too great for him to make it as good as new! I’ve lived in the Twin Cities are for about fourteen years, but even so, I’ve always had a hard time finding my way out of downtown and back onto highway 35W or 94 which led out of the city. For me, Minneapolis is an easy town to drive into, but a hard one to drive out of. The signs are clearly marked on the interstate on how to get downtown, but you’ve got to look carefully and quickly to see a sign pointing to the way out!
It’s the same with some of the choices we are offered in life. For example, it’s pretty easy to get into trouble, but it’s another story altogether trying to get out of trouble. All the signs to a wrong decision look inviting. Sometimes it’s a friend that’s showing the way—other times it’s the promise of a feeling you really want to experience, just once. Whatever the temptation, the decision to yield to those signs can leave you stranded in a neighborhood you never wanted to be in. Fortunately, there is a way out. It’s called, the “Narrow Road”. Jesus describes it in Matthew 7:13-14 like this: “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that lead to life and only a few find it.” Jesus later explained that he was describing himself as that “Narrow Road”. He is the road to true freedom. He is the road to life. He is not just a guide to the road—he’s the road itself! Stay on that road, and you’ll never have to worry about how to get out of the wrong neighborhood. May I ask a personal question? What’s the condition of your Bible? Do you have one of those big Family Bibles at your house? Lots of folks have one. They look great on the coffee table or on a special stand. The problem with them is that they rarely get used. Nobody actually reads them. That kind of Bible is more for decoration, like the latest Martha Stewart Living magazine setting just so on your end table.
There’s nothing wrong with these Bibles—it’s one way to silently witness to your faith, and they can serve as a reminder to look to God for help to life’s questions. But the Bibles I like to see are the well-worn ones with lots of highlighting and personal notes written in the margins. Someone said, “If your Bible’s falling apart, you probably aren’t!” I believe that to be true! The Bible is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. It is not an outdated book of myths and fables, but the living, active, ever-relevant Word of God. Here’s a challenge for the week: Spend some time everyday reading the Bible. See if it does speak to you and if it helps you. If you don’t have a clue on where to begin, let me suggest the Gospel of John. If you don’t have a Bible, there are plenty of places to get them—even online for free! I’ll be glad to give you one too. Become a student of the Word. It is the manual for life and the living record of God’s plan for successful living. Have an awesome day! Have you patched a bicycle inner tube lately? I remember getting my flat bicycle tires fixed as a kid. The repairman used “vulcanization”. This was way before Star Trek, so it had nothing to do with Dr. Spock. It was a process of attaching a rubber patch on the inner tube using glue and friction. He had this tool that resembled a spur that he ran back and forth over the patch to create friction and to completely secure the patch to the tube. If he skipped the friction, the chance of that patch holding for long wasn’t very good. The point is, that every strong bond has to have a little friction.
The same thing is true in our relationships. Whether it’s with your marriage, your work, or your kids, there’s going to be friction. The friction, or conflict, can either serve to create a stronger bond, or it can ruin them. It all depends on using the right “vulcanization” process. Becoming skilled at resolving conflict is harder than learning to fix a flat, but the process is similar. First, identify the problem and focus on that. A tire may be in excellent condition otherwise. It’s just a small hole in one spot that’s causing the tire to go flat. Don’t try to fix places that are still in good shape! Next, examine the extent of the damage and make sure the patch is adequate. A big conflict is going to take a larger patch and more effort to resolve than a small one. It may be helpful to get someone involved that knows how to fix flats. Sometimes, doing it on your own can just make it worse. Remember, friction can be good. The bonds you form that become strongest are usually the result of some friction, not the lack of it. May all your relationships be airtight today! When a tree is just a sapling, it can be trained to grow several ways. If you tie cords to it and cause the trunk to bend, eventually it will continue on its own to grow in that direction. As the owner of the yard, I want my trees to develop and become strong, healthy and useful. So I sometimes have to apply pressure in just the right ways to achieve the best results.
We do the same thing with our children. We guide them and train them; sometimes we apply pressure to them so that, in the end, they will grow and mature as healthy, productive citizens of the planet. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go and when is old, he will not depart from it.” That’s the same concept as training a tree to grow a certain way. Eventually it will continue in the direction it was trained to go. As God’s children, we also are being trained by Him to go His way. Sometimes what we think is adversity, is actually the pressure God is applying to bend us towards him. His plan, as the owner of the universe, is to help us become healthy and productive in His kingdom. God cares enough about you to shape you and bend you so that you can reach the heights he intended for you. Don’t resist his correction; thank him for it. Trust Him to do what’s best for you. His plans are for your good. His ways are the best. Have an awesome day growing for Him. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2016
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