Okay, so clearly, life is not always perfect. At least mine is not. But I have news for you friends, God is in the yucky stuff too. How so? When He takes the chaos of my life and uses it for His glory and for my ultimate good. He is my master after all. He made me, and lately I have been making it a habit of telling Him (mainly to remind myself) that I am His possession. That's right. He owns me. And does not the potter have the right to do what He wants with the clay? I am the clay. (in case you have been without caffeine today and did not pick up on that) But what am I saying? God makes yucky things happen in my life just because He can? Well, I guess yes, but no. Yes He does allow things that are unpleasant to enter into my life at times to either wake me up, teach me something or grow me. (there are all sort of one in the same I suppose) but regardless, He does allow "No" to enter into my world. And as I chatted with a girlfriend the other day about how much we both dislike the word NO, she reminded me that no one likes the word no. Not a 2 year old, not a 5 year old, not a 41 year old or a 29 year old. (and no one in between) likes to be told NO. Somtimes no means, "not yet." And sometimes no means, "don't worry about it, i'm in control.." Really, when we surrender ourselves to our Maker we accept the fact that once and a while, we will hear a no that were either not expecting, nor understand, and because we are the clay, we say humbly, "Ok, but give the strength to persevere with patience through this "no" that I am experiencing." At least that is what I am working on saying to Him, my Master. The best thing about God is this: He is always doing what is ultimately for our best and our ultimate good. So when yuck comes into our life, we can acknowledge that if we were God, we would do the exact same thing to us because we would see that in the big scheme of things, it would be best for us. See what I am saying? He is always working for us. Not against us. He always looking to grow us into the best version of ourselves, because in this place we are in the most peace and joy. Weird thought isn't it. That even when things are chaos all around us we can be at peace? How is this possible? It's possible because we can draw from HIS strength, and His strength is an unlimited well. It never runs dry. We can call on Him day or night, sorrow or joy, rain or shine. Get the idea? He is always available. And so His strength. For when His child comes to Him with desperation in her or his voice, and says, "Oh Father, I'm so confused...why is this going on in my life, and can you please help me out? Can you please provide a solution?!" Don't you think He just absolutely delights in this???? I do. I learned earlier this week that in Genesis chapter 25 Rachael asks God, "why are these two boys in my pregnant belly fighting inside my womb like this?" God answered her and told her she had two nations inside of her womb. It was just so affirming to hear that a godly woman asked God why. I have always been afraid to ask Him why. It's not like why makes it any better but as blind little clay pots we like to know why. And sometimes He tells us, and we know why, and other times, He just replies, "My grace is sufficient for you." And that is exactly what He told me, but it was enough. And it's true. His grace is sufficient for me. And His Grace is sufficient for you as well. It does not always take the yuck away, but it shows us that in the storm, we are held. And this is why we can rejoice, or at least be at peace in the storm. We are fueled and held by the God who is doing what is good for us. Do you believe me when I say this? Sometimes I know it's hard to believe that. There are many times where I have said to Him, "Really Lord? This is your best for me...I just don't see it." And many times we don't see it, not till much further down the road, and maybe for some, we don't see it till we reach the other side of heaven. But regardless, we must have faith that everything in scripture is written so we can see story after story of His countless words and biographies of His faithfulness to His people. He never leaves you alone. He leave the 99 to chase after me. The lost sheep. The little clay pot that has no real noble purpose all on her own, but through Christ, I can be used. I can have purpose, and the yuck will make sense through His sovereign plan.
Think on these thoughts my friends. Pray through these thoughts if they trouble you and realize, it's all written in the Word for you to read for yourself. Romans 8-12 are a great place to start if you have questions. The Bible is your source...and He is your strength. Dig in and be strengthened.
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