"But now, O Lord,
you are our Father;
we are the clay, and You our potter;
and all we are, the work of Your hand."
Isaiah 64:8
Out of dust comes clay; the raw unrefined material that God will shape and mold to His liking often times whether we like it or not.
Thinking back on American history and how God used Abraham Lincoln I'm encouraged. Abe was just a country boy like many of us. He was a relatively "self-taught" man that by today's standards might not have gotten a second look to do much of anything that might make a difference in our world much less lead a nation. The thing is, God doesn't work that way. As with so many great leaders he starts the same way as He does with anyone of us and you can be assured He can create something from nothing. Be confident that the same breath that breathed life through the nostrils of Adam can breathe life into your calling and mine.
The author of the book I'm currently reading "The Emotionally Healthy Church" mentions how a man's conviction to doing right can come at a huge cost-the magnitude of which you and I will probably never have to wiegh. God chose Abe Lincoln to one day rise up and become a leader so convicted about the abomination of slavery that he would be willing to risk civil war to abolish it. This is huge! Imagine some leadership decisions you face. You know they are right, just and they are necessary. You know the cost of the decision may be high. You also know that it is crucial to follow through because the time is at hand and by His hand. For years some of us have let others fill in the blank that defines who we are and what we will do and they neither have the right or the foresight to do so. Perhaps it is time to bring glory through that which has been in the making your whole life because not all pottery ends up an ashtray; not the pottery of The Maker's hand.
Danny Thomas said: "All of us are born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why." Maybe it's time to fill in the blank for yourself. "I was born for this, this is my time and I was created to _______________."
