Surrender comes easily for some in the faith. Me? I struggled greatly.
Not with everything though i may add. My life had been consumed by television and games and books. All of my time went into those pursuits with television leading the way with 75% while NOT playing games. Add on the games and it goes up to 85% and books filling in the rest.
The problem was I spent little-to-no time reading the bible. Any churching I got was from Sunday mornings of course and bible studies. That's it. No personal time in reading or praying or studying what I heard on sunday's and wednesday nites. My time was my time.
As I saw how my life was not really in line with what I was confessing to be I knew a change was in order. I packed up my video game system, games and all and traded them in at the store i worked at and gave the card, with $345 trade-in credit on it, to the kid in line behind me. Both the mother of the young kid and the store employee looked at me with mouths agape. Many people find this hard to believe that I would get rid of a PS2 and 20+ games just for God. Yet, i did.
I am made in His image and I was not portraying a very good one. I needed to be remade.
So back to the Potter's wheel I went. As distractions come into our lives and we begin to feel the pains of life, it is in those times that God is reshaping us. Looking back now I realize I never could have made it through being homeless two without God. I never could have gotten over the loss of my parents without God, neither could I have made it through losing a wife and two kids without God. During those times I actually blamed God for the shamefull happenings in my life. I admit I was wrong for doing so.
Having not known the truth of the bible I could not see that I was the cause for my own sufferings.
Bad decision making. Selfishness. A hardened heart.
In order for me to become the man God designed me to be I had to go back to Him and let Him fix me. I needed to get into bible and know Him as well as He knew me. Corrections hurt and the LORD does not gloss over our sins, He goes deep down to the source and cuts away the root problem. Having never looked at it from God's point of view, He was just removing the thorns and thistles and reseeling the cracks that covered my body. I once saw a video of a gentleman making a vase in his pottery shop. I was amazed at how he started with just a dry lump of clay and began to shape and mode it into something magnificent. The process was not 1,2,3. There were many steps involved and after time when it looked like the vase was finished, he inspected it closely and touched it and ran his hand over it and found some imperfections that I could not see. What did he do? He remade it.
God has done that with us, His creations. In the beginning before sin mankind was made perfectly in the image of God. However, when sin became part of our DNA the created vessel became marred. God decided not to destroy us, as most vessels are during the process in pottery. Yet, He chose to remake us by providing Jesus (the Word) to redeem us from destruction. Next, we were given the Word (the bible) to purfiy us in all areas of our lives. Some years ago I heard this saying and it has stayed with me eversince. The Word of God will teach you, touch you and transform you.
All of this is done from the Potters Wheel. God never lets us go. We are engraved in the palm of His hand therefore we are never out of reach of His tender touch.
All day everyday we are being fashioned into His likeness.
God bless you.
No comments:
Post a Comment