BEING MADE READY

“God gives gifts to each of His children and with these gifts come purpose.”

Lori Riner, Inspirational Intelligence

Have you ever personally worked with clay? Perhaps thrown a bowl or sculpted a vase? When you first pick up clay it is cold and hard, resistant and difficult to work with. You have to use pressure to soften it and make it moldable. Isn’t this like us? We resist the things God is trying to form in us. But He carefully applies pressure to shape us and make us usable. Smoothing rough edges, trimming away excess. We are being made ready.

When working with clay, the warmth from your hands transfers into the clay making it softer and more malleable. I think of this like God’s love. As God’s love is transferred more and more into our lives, we become easier to work with and quicker to align ourselves with truth revealed in His Word. Another characteristic of clay is fingerprints. When you touch it, fingerprints are embedded leaving their unique mark. I believe the more God works with us the more our lives become covered in His fingerprints. These are the signs that He is making us ready to be all He desires us to be.

God’s work is to accomplish His plan for your life and His plan is good. Ephesians 2:10 AMP brings clarity: “For we are God’s own handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time), that we should walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live).” The goodness of God is rooted in the Love of God. In her Advent devotional, The Greatest Gift, Ann Voskamp states, “The authority of God made all creation. But it was the affection of God that made all His children.”

This is a journey, savor the process. Embrace the role God has designed you alone to play. Don’t run from the hard places, press into them. God gives gifts to each of His children and with these gifts come purpose. Cooperate with God and the Holy Spirit in the work of becoming all He desires you to be. God’s fingerprints are everywhere. Stand firm with your feet planted on the Solid Rock, remember that you are held in the palm of the Master’s hand and He will not let you go. Truth sets us free. God’s truth is the Light in the darkness. You can be free to experience a life of purpose, inspired from the foundation of the world.