Molding Equipment
I always enjoy hearing about how people allow God to work through them. It's quite inspiring...
When Jeff and I first moved to SD, I'm sad to say we were pretty much
hermits. I had met some other ladies my age who were sweet and
welcoming, but honestly I was mostly just scared of everyone. We tried
church on and off after we got settled, then Jeff deployed and I
basically stopped going for 6 and a half months. Fear completely
consumed me, though I'm sure if I had been confronted about that at the
time my pride would've denied it. My independence would've brought me to
my default response of "I'm fine". I was nothing more than a hardened
lump of clay too stubborn for The Father's hands to mold...
Thankfully, in the second half of last year we made the conscious effort to
just...try harder. And by that I mean we chose to realize where we
weren't living our lives for Christ and change that. That's hard folks.
But it starts with the simple and for us that was going back to church-
immersing ourselves in a Christ-centered and positive environment.
Realizing you're not the only broken ones walking through those double
doors is helpful. I think if we could see each other from the inside out
just like Christ does, we wouldn't feel so apprehensive. With open
hearts and a new perspective, we've experienced new friendships and a
renewal of spirit. Eventually, we did join the church we attended (FSCC)
and started getting involved!
When I think about it, I suppose it's natural for a given task to feel foreign and uncomfortable at first. We are called to be in the world and not of it. In Matthew 26:1, we're reminded to "stay alert so that we do not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." As we do things in this world in effort to glorify God, there's a risk of drifting into areas of the world that may tempt self-righteous thinking or ritualistic reward seeking behaviors. I would argue that there are sometimes cracks in the foundation of our trust where fear seeps through and tells us you "aren't good enough", you "can't get it right, you never did and you never will", or something like that.
Hint: That is NOT the voice of God speaking.
My husband is so good at helping me silence those voices that say I'm about to be consumed. What appears as a dark and gloomy shadow is the very area He wants to use you (and me) to light up! God says, "you are mine." Believe me friend, if The Lord above all claims you, then any thought saying otherwise is just rubbish. So to those of you who are feeling lead to get involved or serve in an area of this world that needs a little more love in it, I encourage you to find your strength and confidence in Christ as you listen to what God is urging you to. My personal thanks goes out to those who have continued to set that example and encouraged me to do so.
Bringing it back to where I started: it's really inspiring to hear about how God
works through others. You may have heard that phrase, "He equips the
called...". Well, He does! He may have to call you for months on end and
kneed that block which keeps one from moving forward with the message.
But make no mistake that truly awesome things happen if you'll conform
to the process of His will as you seek His heart. What I've found is
that most of the time, you [I] end up "doing" something with others who
enjoy what He has called for and suddenly what seemed so foreign is more
like family time. :)
I looked up the definition of mold today since it has two different meanings, curious about the verbiage used in its definition. The first said: "to form/ to shape", while the other said:
a coating or discoloration caused by various saprotrophic fungi that develop in a damp atmosphere on the surface of...
Then I looked up "saprotrophic" and it said: any organism, esp a fungus or bacterium, that lives and feeds on dead organic matter. (Well that's disgusting.)
So, what's it going to be Pots? Are we going to make like a dead organism and just mold ... or shall we all be transformed and shaped by the Potter's hands for His use?
"Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and you won't start now..."
When Jeff and I first moved to SD, I'm sad to say we were pretty much
hermits. I had met some other ladies my age who were sweet and
welcoming, but honestly I was mostly just scared of everyone. We tried
church on and off after we got settled, then Jeff deployed and I
basically stopped going for 6 and a half months. Fear completely
consumed me, though I'm sure if I had been confronted about that at the
time my pride would've denied it. My independence would've brought me to
my default response of "I'm fine". I was nothing more than a hardened
lump of clay too stubborn for The Father's hands to mold...
Thankfully, in the second half of last year we made the conscious effort to
just...try harder. And by that I mean we chose to realize where we
weren't living our lives for Christ and change that. That's hard folks.
But it starts with the simple and for us that was going back to church-
immersing ourselves in a Christ-centered and positive environment.
Realizing you're not the only broken ones walking through those double
doors is helpful. I think if we could see each other from the inside out
just like Christ does, we wouldn't feel so apprehensive. With open
hearts and a new perspective, we've experienced new friendships and a
renewal of spirit. Eventually, we did join the church we attended (FSCC)
and started getting involved!
When I think about it, I suppose it's natural for a given task to feel foreign and uncomfortable at first. We are called to be in the world and not of it. In Matthew 26:1, we're reminded to "stay alert so that we do not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." As we do things in this world in effort to glorify God, there's a risk of drifting into areas of the world that may tempt self-righteous thinking or ritualistic reward seeking behaviors. I would argue that there are sometimes cracks in the foundation of our trust where fear seeps through and tells us you "aren't good enough", you "can't get it right, you never did and you never will", or something like that.
Hint: That is NOT the voice of God speaking.
My husband is so good at helping me silence those voices that say I'm about to be consumed. What appears as a dark and gloomy shadow is the very area He wants to use you (and me) to light up! God says, "you are mine." Believe me friend, if The Lord above all claims you, then any thought saying otherwise is just rubbish. So to those of you who are feeling lead to get involved or serve in an area of this world that needs a little more love in it, I encourage you to find your strength and confidence in Christ as you listen to what God is urging you to. My personal thanks goes out to those who have continued to set that example and encouraged me to do so.
Bringing it back to where I started: it's really inspiring to hear about how God
works through others. You may have heard that phrase, "He equips the
called...". Well, He does! He may have to call you for months on end and
kneed that block which keeps one from moving forward with the message.
But make no mistake that truly awesome things happen if you'll conform
to the process of His will as you seek His heart. What I've found is
that most of the time, you [I] end up "doing" something with others who
enjoy what He has called for and suddenly what seemed so foreign is more
like family time. :)
I looked up the definition of mold today since it has two different meanings, curious about the verbiage used in its definition. The first said: "to form/ to shape", while the other said:
a coating or discoloration caused by various saprotrophic fungi that develop in a damp atmosphere on the surface of...
Then I looked up "saprotrophic" and it said: any organism, esp a fungus or bacterium, that lives and feeds on dead organic matter. (Well that's disgusting.)
So, what's it going to be Pots? Are we going to make like a dead organism and just mold ... or shall we all be transformed and shaped by the Potter's hands for His use?
"Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and you won't start now..."
As my Pastor Jamie says..."now THAT will preach!!"
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