Last weekend was Memorial Day and I went on a beach retreat with church...it was a wonderful time! The Bible says, "seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you." Well, I set out to seek the Lord with a mild enthusiasm at best, tapping on the door thinking maybe there would be no one home but entertaining the possibility of maybe coming away with some nice parting gift...what I got was abundantly and immeasurable more than I could have asked or imagined...that's just like God, isn't it? He's broken my silence and I couldn't be more thankful! Praise be to God! I have missed you all (and this blog) so much!
There is something so freeing and encouraging and uplifting to write out the Spirit's heart...akin, I imagine, to the feeling in the hearts of those who penned our Holy Scripture. Of course, I do not liken myself OR this blog to the Holy Inspired Word of God by any means! I feel a sense of God's pleasure in writing, though. Each time I sit with a pen in hand or sit at the computer a wave of peace comes over me...as if everything were simply melting away. In front of a blank page or a blank screen, I feel I can really hear the LORD speaking through my heart! The sessions during our beach retreat reinforce this feeling (and really, helped me to see the validity of how I truly feel) were about living for the applause -for the GLORY- of GOD alone rather than for the applause and approval of men/women/people/self. Something I struggle with constantly...(I care SO MUCH about how you perceive my words, how you like my words, how many of you actually read my words)...this hangs over my head like a weight...BUT GOD (I love that!) gives freedom and restoration and forgiveness for my sins of pride and covetousness and envy-among so many others! With this new found purpose and drive I hoped to be changed by God, as the potter changes the clay on the wheel...
Jeremiah 18
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)Parable of the Potter
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. 4 But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.5 The word of the Lord came to me: 6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. 7 At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it. 8 However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it. 9 At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom. 10 However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it. 11 So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds. 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”
I love that passage. Friends, God has the power to shape us and mold us into the most beautiful and USEFUL vessel we can become-because He's created us that way...formed from the dust in the Garden of Eden! Oh, how I hope He will transform me! And He will! Jeremiah 18:6 gives me confidence and assurance of that! All He asks of me is obedience and a willing heart!
So, in an act of obedience and with a willing and open heart, I return to the pen (or keyboard) and I pray that God will use me to be a part of someone else's story...who knows, maybe I'll be a part of yours.
