The Faithful Creator

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

All of us at one time or another has made something. Whether it was something small or large, we had a purpose for creating it. When going to create something, we do all in our power to make it right the first time because if we knew our creation was going to have errors, we wouldn’t create it in the first place. Often when what we have made doesn’t come out exactly how we originally envisioned it, we become frustrated and impatient and shortly give up. But there is one Creator who sees all the errors and all the flaws His creation is going to have before He even makes it, yet He still sees it as worth creating and never gets impatient with how long the process might take. Before the Creator, our God, even formed us in the womb, He knew us, His creation.

It really is impossible for me to comprehend the fact that God knew me before He even created me. Because of this, He knew all the flaws and errors I was going to have. He saw that He was going to have to keep going back over and over and over again to fix me before I was ready for the purpose He created me for. He saw how many times I was going to have to learn lessons from His word and how many trials He would have to put me through to understand it. But He looked passed all my flaws and errors and still had a purpose for me and saw me as worth creating.

In Jeremiah 1:5 it not only says that God knew us before He created us, but also that He ordained and sanctified us before we were born. “Sanctify” means to be set apart. For every single person born on this earth, God has a special plan and purpose “set apart” for them. This can be an overwhelming reality to think about finding God’s true purpose for your life. But the wonderful thing is that God already knows what that purpose is. He knew before you were born. God knew every word you would speak and every decision you would make. He knew every trial you would face. He knew every person you would meet and He knew exactly where the path of your life would lead - all to get you exactly where He wants you to be.

“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” John 17:17-19. Just as Jesus had a purpose in coming to the world, so does every Christian. Sanctification is “a state of separation unto God.” We enter into this state after salvation. It’s a once and forever separation from the world eternally unto God. In John 17, it is talking about setting apart believers for the purpose for which they were sent into this world. Just as Jesus set Himself apart for the purpose that He was sent for, so should we as Christians set ourselves apart from the ways of the world for the purpose we are sent for.

 This passage reminds me that God truly does have a purpose for each and every one of His children. But not even Jesus fulfilled His purpose on earth right away. He had to grow and mature before He could bare the load of the cross. In the same way, we as Christians have to grow and mature spiritually before we can completely fulfill God’s purpose for us on earth. But how do we find that purpose? We let God control our ship.

If God is the captain of our ship of life; He will help us sail through the storm-tossed seas. His Word is the lighthouse guiding us from crashing in the darkness. If we ignore the lighthouse or attempt to grab the wheel from our captain’s hand, it will only lead us to destruction. It is easy for us to look out on the dark sea and become afraid because we have no idea where we are going. But God knows exactly where to lead us; we just have to trust Him.  John 14:1 says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (Jesus’ own words) If we let God steer our ship, He will lead us only through the storms that are necessary for us to go through to reach our destination – our purpose. At times, we may feel like we have gone through too many storms and that our ship is too damaged for Him to even be able to steer us. But with God, all things are possible and He can steer any boat – even the broken ones – to His purpose. II Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” God is able to use everything we have battled in our lives and use it for His glory. Only He could do that.

Because He will be the one at the helm when we are facing the crashing waves and the intense winds of the storm, He will keep our ship from crashing until we get to the other side. We will be tempted to reach for control ourselves when the storm seems to be lasting longer than anticipated or is more intense then we think we can handle. During these times God will test our faith in Him and teach us to completely rely on Him to bring us through the trials – the storm. Psalm 46:1-3, 10-11 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Be still, and know that I am God. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.”

God is our strength. He won’t let us sink or crash. He will never make the storm more intense than what we can truly handle. And when we come out on the other side of the storm, we will see how it was worth it to trust Him – it was worth it to let Him lead the way. Because when we make it through the storm, we see His promise, the rainbow – the beautiful thing that makes us realize it was worth it to endure the pain and suffering, all for His glory. Just like I Peter 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

 Trials will come, but it is all part of getting to God’s purpose for us on this earth. Each and every storm is God’s way of helping us grow more in Him, learn more about Him, and become closer to His vision for us. We may fail Him at times and seem to be insufficient for His purpose for us. But if we trust Him and His power, He will bring us exactly where He wants us in His timing. 1 Peter 4:19 says, “Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” We may have to suffer to find God’s will. But if we commit our souls – our ship – to God, He will guide us. From before we were even born and until the day we die, He will always be our faithful Creator.

Who's Driving

In this life - this journey - we are constantly traveling along, there are choices we make. You can think of the whole thing - the journey - as if you were driving. If I choose to drive, to be in control I am taking on quite the obstacle. It would be one thing if I KNEW exactly where I was going. If it was a place that I had been to over and over, but you and I both know that we have no clue where this journey is taking us. I can sit in the drivers seat, driving along all while trying to drive, read directions, and keep my eyes on the road. Even if I have my handy dandy GPS, it is still something I have to figure out, have to listen to, have to pay attention to, and even something to distract me. I will take my eyes off the road; my eyes off the directions. I will make wrong turns, I will get distracted and there will come a time or two or three, when I lose my way completely. After all, I have no clue where I am going. I may be one of those people that has a pretty good sense of direction. Great! But, I would have to know where I am going to "sense" the direction, yes? I think you are beginning to see that I am setting out to fail. There is no way I can get where I am supposed to be going and get there when I am supposed to, all while making the right turns along the way.

I can't drive. I can't do it all on my own. But, there is someone who can - God. When I step out of the drivers seat, He steps in and takes the wheel. Giving Him the freedom to take the wheel and drive. He is the only one who knows the way. When He is in the drivers seat I am able to keep my eyes fixed on the journey. Not to mention that I get to enjoy the ride. I can see all the things I would have never seen if I was in the drivers seat. I get to take in the beauty of the journey. All the "scenic routes" - the blessings - along the way. All things that I would have never seen or even noticed for that matter, had I been driving. Or maybe I would have noticed them, but because I was driving I would have veered off the journey.

There will be times along the journey when it requires me to go through a storm - the trials - but with God in the drivers seat there is nothing to worry about. He knows the way and He can calm the storm. Sometimes He will take me through them just so I can see that He is with me. He knows the way and I have nothing to fear. He takes me through to show and prove His love.

Sometimes the journey will grow dark and weary, the road almost seems to disappear and there are times when I can see the road ending. Yet, He knows the way and just when I was about to give up hope, there was a road of escape that I never saw and would have never seen had He not been driving. I would have stopped when I saw the road was getting rough, yet because He was driving we went to the end and there was the way of escape - the way that only He could provide and take me to.

When I let Him drive, I get to enjoy my time with Him. Getting to know Him, talking to Him, spending that sweet one-on-one time with Him. Yet, sometimes in the midst of all the good times - the easy roads, the ones that seem to span out flat and easy - I think I can do it on my own. I push, I shove, and I work my way back into the drivers seat. After all, He lets me drive when I really insist on it. Why not try it out?

There is something that only He would do though. He lets me in the drivers seat and allows me to take the wheel, but He never leaves me. He takes His place in the passengers seat and with a broken heart, watches as I try to navigate my way. A tear slips down His face as I take a wrong turn, He reaches for my hand when I fall asleep at the wheel, and His heart breaks over every storm I try to make it through on my own. But all along the way He is sitting there right beside me waiting and wanting me to let Him take the wheel - to let Him in the drivers seat. He never begs, never pushes, nor does He ever try to force His way back behind the wheel. He waits and He watches with a broken heart, hoping and praying I will let Him drive before it is too late.

When I have driven into the deepest, darkest place; I'm lost beyond all hope, it's a dead-end road. I get out of the car. I walk to edge and see it's a cliff. I've no where to go. I drop my head in shame. I stand there as tears begin to slip down my face. But then I feel a hand on my shoulder. He looks at me through tear filled eyes, and asks in a loving caring voice, "May I drive?". I burst into tears and hand Him the keys. I thought I could drive, I thought I would be okay. He hugs me, He picks me up and carries me to the passengers seat. Through eyes filled with tears I gaze up and say, "I'm sorry." He looks at me in love and says, "Rest now my child, I know the way."

The Book of Esther

The book of Esther picks up with the telling of the event leading up to Esther being brought to the palace. Queen Vashti disobeyed and was removed by King Ahasuerus because she refused to come before him when he called for her. She disobeyed ('twas not a pleasant time for anyone in the kingdom, I'm sure), but it was only through that happening that the word was sent out for the young women of the land to be sought for King Ahasuerus. Queen Vashti's disobedience had a ripple effect on everyone. However, it was through this that Esther was brought to the palace.

Hit rewind, though, and go all the way back to Esther's childhood. Esther was orphaned as a child. Her parents died. What a horrible thing to go through as a child. It doesn't say how old she was, if she remembered it, if she dealt with the heart-wrenching grief that would overtake someone - a child - in such a situation. Even if she didn't remember it, I'm sure there were many times throughout her childhood when she would see the "perfect family" and she wished she had a mommy to hug her, to hold her, to wipe away her tears, to talk to her, to just be there. I'm sure she wished for her daddy to pick her up, to protect her, to cuddle her, to do all the things daddies do. But, she didn't have that. God had a different plan for her. He had a purpose in her loss - her heartache, her tears, her grief, and all that must have accompanied her childhood. He was there through it all and protected her and raised her up in spite of what took place around her. It doesn't record all those emotions and the happenings of her childhood in the Bible, but she was human and I'm sure she felt all those things.

In her loss and being left orphaned, she was left in the care of her uncle, Mordecai. Under his watchful eye and upbringing, she was raised in a Godly way and was a devout Jew. She possessed a willing, faithful, and serving heart because of her upbringing and her life with Mordecai - it's not mentioned, but is very evident in her attitude and spirit towards Mordecai and King Ahasuerus. And, to be chosen by God for such a huge purpose, she had to have possessed a heart filled by Him.

Now, rewind one more time.... Mordecai could have chosen not to take Esther in. He didn't have to. He was a single guy and could have chosen to find someone else to take care of her. Perhaps a family or even a couple that would allow her to have a mom and a dad. I'm sure it crossed his mind a time or two. But, he followed God's plan and raised Esther himself. He didn't exactly have an easy life himself. He had been carried away captive. Not exactly pleasant, I'm sure. I wonder if Esther went through that with him. Either way, each piece was so crucial - Esther losing her parents, Mordecai taking her in, and his captivity that brought him to the palace of King Ahasuerus.

In the eyes of a human, Esther was nowhere near qualified or sprouting up from a background fit for a queen. She was disqualified by human standards, but in God's eyes she was everything needed for the position and purpose she was to fulfill - to save His people, the Jews. You know the story...she was chosen and found considerable favor in the King's eyes. Because Mordecai, in disobedience and a bitter heart, refused to bow to the king, all of his people (the Jews) were put in danger. They were to be killed. Haman saw to it that the decree was sent out for all Jews to be destroyed. God placed her (Esther) in the position - favorable sight in the eyes of the King - so that whatever she wished, it was granted. It defied all odds, all standards, and rules of the "royal" realm. Don't go before the King unless called for; she went and was accepted.

Esther, in some ways is a picture - a shadow - of the coming of Jesus, just as Adam (one man) sinned and caused the entire human race to be sentenced to death. Thus, Jesus came to save His people and give them life. Mordecai was one man and was disobedient toward the king which resulted in all of the Jews being sentenced to death. Esther was raised up and put in the place to save the Jews - to give them life, just as Jesus (so to speak) came before God and had the scepter reached out to him when He entered in to that Holy of Holiest....that scepter of righteousness. He was accepted and made righteous...acceptable for the covering of our ugly sin-marred lives. Esther entering into the inner chamber, the King's court, and having the scepter reached out to her so that she did not have to die is a beautiful and stunning picture of Jesus entering into the presence of God as our high priest. Esther was accepted and pleaded for the life of the Jews. Jesus gave His life - His blood - so that our life could be spared through faith in that shed blood. Beautiful! 

I love thinking about the prayer that she was bathed in by so many as she went before the king that day. It just goes to prove the power of prayer, and that through prayer, the hedge of protection was built around her as she stepped on those forbidden floors that were laid in the king's court. Her heart was trembling. I'm sure, but she was bold and stood before him to represent (and in the end) save the Jews. The creed was recanted and she was chosen to re-write it. Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai. And King Ahasuerus set Mordecai up in high favor - even after he had disobeyed him. He gave him the ring and he took the place of Haman. How amazing is that!? And, what a beautiful picture of all the pieces - of all things working together for good - for God's ultimate and hidden purpose until revealed. No one would have guessed what lay ahead for the humble, simple, orphaned girl that Esther was. God took her willing heart and set her in the forefront of His plan to deliver His people from the decree that had been declared against them. 

No matter what may have taken place in your childhood, or even adulthood, be assured that God has a beautiful purpose and plan for each twist and turn that lies in the fabric of your life. 

The Potter and the Clay

“But now, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay,
and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

Isaiah 64:8

Everything is made for a specific purpose. A plate, a bowl, a cup – each were created for a certain use. In the same way each one of those objects were created for a use, a person is also created for a special purpose. As with the three objects mentioned above, there was a mastermind behind each one. The mastermind had a vision for the object and an ultimate goal and use for it. In our lives as Christians, there is a mastermind creating us into His vision and purpose for our lives. Our lives can be viewed as clay in the hands of the Lord – our Potter.

In order to create a vessel there first must be a vision – a goal, a purpose. The vision is there before sculpting process even begins. Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Before He even began our lives, God, as the Potter, had a purpose and vision for each of us as a vessel. However, the vessel doesn’t go from vision to reality over night; it requires patience and several crucial steps. These steps are performed by the Potter as He sculpts and has us, the vessel – the clay – in His hands.

As clay in the Potter’s hands, He is able to sculpt us with each turning of the wheel. The process of sculpting and smoothing removes cracks and flaws from the clay of our being. Through this ongoing process, the things in our lives that hinder our walk with Him are brought to the surface by His constant guiding in our lives. By surfacing the hindrances in the clay – all the stones, the air bubbles, the cracks – He is able to remove them. Thus, allowing the clay to flow freely through the Potter’s fingers and hands.  When we are moving freely in His hands, He is able to begin shaping us into His vision. 2 Timothy 2:21 says “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” When we are in the Potter’s hands, we feel His pressures, feel the molding of His fingers, we can relax and trust Him, for we know that this Potter has suffered with us and knows how we feel, but is determined to make us into a vessel “meet for the master’s use”.

In order for the Potter to shape us we have to be centered on His wheel.  Being centered on His wheel is being centered in His will. To be centered in His will we have to be content with what He is doing and trust in the moving of His hand in our life. Romans 9:20-21 says, “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” When we are content with what we have, with the circumstances in our lives, we are appreciative and thankful for what God has brought into our life and how He is shaping us – whether it is good or bad in our eyes. We are thankful for how He is working and the circumstances, because we are not focused on what we don’t have and what we aren’t experiencing, but we are trusting God that in all things He is giving us, shaping us, and moving us into all that we need and all that He wants and has for us. Through this we see more clearly His reasons for shaping us. “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:11-13

 Aside from being centered on the Potter’s wheel, the clay must also stay moist. It is impossible to mold a piece of parched clay. Isaiah 35:7 says “And the parched ground shall become a pool…” Parched means “to become dry from thirst or lack of water”. When we lack God’s word in our daily lives, we become less attentive to His will for us, the probing of the Holy Spirit, and His working in our lives through others. These things can be compared to the water – the pool - that the Potter uses to bring the clay to the right consistency to enable Him to shape and form it under His loving touch. For Him to continue to mold us we must stay saturated.

When we are finally molded into the shape He wants us to be, we have to go into the fiery kiln. Clay can withstand a wide variety of temperatures varying from extremely hot to extremely cold, just as we can survive this process. While in the kiln, God will allow temptations and trials to come our way to test our faith and teach us things to prepare us for the purpose He has been creating us for. During this time is when so many of us give up and faint. But 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 says, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” It is only when we are put through the fire that we truly learn to trust in Him to meet our every need and remove us from the kiln at His timing - when He believes we are ready to face the reality of His vision for us. God is standing there watching over us with His eyes on the thermostat and His hand on the dial. He will never let us burn or give us more then we can handle. During this time, He starts to make us beautiful in His image.

When the vessel is glazed and put through the fiery kiln it comes out shining and glazed in the understanding and acceptance of His will and vision for our life. It is then that it reflects a beauty and grandeur that could have only come through the careful molding and then the firing that took place. Its shine and glaze is so shiny from the fire that when the Potter looks into it, it reflects His image. “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Beneth Jones once said, “The stark outlines of my sin-marred humanity are always painfully evident. But thankfully, I don’t have to be, and indeed cannot be, beautiful in myself. It is only as the light of Jesus Christ adorns my life that beauty appears. May He who is light, He who is the almighty lovely one, display more of Himself and hide more of me each day.” Every bit of the processes of forming us into His vision helps us become beautiful on the inside which shines through, making us beautiful on the outside. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He hath made everything beautiful in his time.”

Sometimes the vessel must be broken in order for that beauty – that light – to shine through. In the book of Judges when Gideon was preparing to face the Midianites, God laid on Gideon’s heart a special battle plan. Gideon divided his men into three different companies and he gave each man a trumpet and an empty pitcher that contained a lamp inside. When the time came in battle, under the instruction of Gideon, the men broke the pitchers that were in their hands so that the light could be revealed. (Judges 7:7-22). Pitchers – clay vessels – with lamps inside! Sometimes the Potter must break the vessel in order to let the inner light shine through. Christians are mere vessels of clay designed to house a precious light and treasure.  That light can only be seen or shined when our vessel is, at times, broken. 2 Corinthians 4:3-7 elaborates on the light in us, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servant’s for Jesus’ sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”

The Potter knew every struggle, every test – all the stones, cracks, and air bubbles that had to be worked out of our clay being before He began turning us on His wheel in this life. He knew what the end result would be even before we made the transformation from slab of clay into the beautiful vessel that He had envisioned from the beginning. Sometimes in our resisting ways, He was forced to bring us back to the Potter’s wheel. But through His grace, God allowed the clay of our humanity to cooperate with the Potter. Our cooperation with our Maker allows Him to make beautiful vessels out of our previously flawed lives. It is then that we see the His vision become a reality and He is able to not only display but use His work of art for His glory and ultimate purpose, all In the Light of His Glory.