Perfect Timing

  This seems to have been the best year of my life, and this week was the cherry on top.  God has been so good in so many little and big ways.  For example, I suddenly decided I wanted to buy a camera NOW. :)  That’s kind of out of character for me, but I'm so glad I did this time.  I had been praying about going to a meeting this summer, and it seemed like it wouldn't be working out for me to go.  Then Friday (the day I was to get my camera by FedEx) daddy woke me up saying that I had a ride to the WV meeting if I want to go.  My sister and I left 4-5 hours later, the camera still in the box.  I had worried about it all morning, and it came moments before we left.  In the meantime our ride to WV--my mom’s cousin and his wife—were waiting around at the house for their daughter-in-law to get back so she could tell them bye.  At least that was the story they told—I choose to believe that they were waiting for FedEx to arrive (though they knew nothing of me getting a camera).  Isn’t that amazing?  I feel so blessed and humbled by the goodness of God.

   Well, I came back from the meeting with a soul full of encouragement and challenge and a 4GB memory card full of memories and mountains.  I couldn’t wait to look at the pictures on my computer.  Last night, I finally got to look at them, but was given a rude reminder that my Adobe trials (what I use for editing) had run out.  I had no idea when they would be arriving in the mail—well guess what FedEx brought this morning?  Could a girl be any happier over such little blessings?

   Again, I want to thank the Lord for the gifts he seems to be showering on me.  I think he’s trying to tell me to trust his timing.  I know that no matter how long I wait for something, God really does have the perfect timing.

Blessings,

Alyssa

Obedience and Wisdom

In reading the first few chapters of Joshua, I begin to see the difference between two stories.  In chapter seven, the disobedience of on man (Achan) brought a curse on all the Israelites.  God was not with them in their next battle, and many lost their lives as they fled from their enemies.  The ninth chapter tells about the Hivites and their deceptive plot.  The people of Israel did not seek God’s council and made a mistake they regretted later.  Though the Israelites had to deal with the natural consequences of their decision, God did not punish them as he did at Ai.  Instead, he worked two very great miracles in their favor.  When the Hivites—because of the league—called for help against five kings that warred against them, God told Joshua not to fear.  God was definitely with the Israelites that day and sent hailstones that killed more than the Israelites did with the sword.  The greatest miracle was when he held the sun still and it did not set for the length of a day.

It encourages me to know that God will still be with me even when I make an unwise decision.  His plan for me is one of victory, and he will be with me if I obey him.  There are, however, great benefits to seeking the Lord in my every-day decision and even more so in my big life decisions.  He has infinite wisdom, and cannot be deceived.  People can trick us, and circumstances can mislead us, but God can help us make the right decision.

Blessings,

Alyssa

Marred in the Potter's Hands

Jeremiah 18:2-6  "Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it...Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."

As I have been working with clay the past few months and just recently started throwing, I have often thought of this passage.  We can assume that the clay did not mar because of any fault of the potter (unlike some of my cases).  Sometimes, while at the wheel, my instructor has told me that I pushed to hard or wasn't consistent enough with my pressure and threw it off center.  The Lord knows when to "apply the pressure" or send something into our life.  He also knows exactly how much we can take, and he will never have us go through something too great for us.

Because we know that we are in the hands of the Master "Potter", if the vessel of our life becomes flawed, we need to look inwardly.  First of all, it is important that clay has no air bubbles.  To get rid of the trapped air, a potter will wedge the clay.  This is a repetitive motion of folding and pushing.  Do we ever get tired of Christ working with us trying to get out all the pride and selfishness?  Air bubbles in clay create visible flaws on the surface and cause the pot to explode in the kiln.  Pride and selfishness also look ugly in our life.  Furthermore, as we have learned from the proverb, pride goeth before fall.  Wedging the clay also evens out the consistency so that the moisture is dispersed throughout the whole ball of clay.  Any hard lumps will make the walls uneven and make it off-centered.  If we have refused to give something up, that one thing will keep God from making us exactly what he wants.  Sometimes the clay might be too hard, and It won't respond to the pressure of the potter's hands.  Often, if we are too set in our own ways or thinking, God has a hard time molding us into what he wants us to be.

There is a lot of hope in this verse too: "so he made it again..."  That is a very encouraging phrase.  Every time one of my pots fail (which is more often than not), I just scrape it of, wedge it up, and reuse it later.  As my instructor says, "It's just clay."

"Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still."

"Oh, make of me what Thou wilt have me to be,

As clay is so I am to Thee;
Just fashion me to Thine own pleasure,
Till Thou shalt Thine own image see."

His Pleasant Plant

Isaiah 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes...5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: 6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant...

I read this chapter and had to think on it a while before I understood some of its practical meaning, and then I was able to receive a blessing from it.  It sounds like a passage full of depressing judgment, but if you turn it around, it is very encouraging.  First of all, if you are saved and living a new life, you are his "pleasant plant".  Now, how do these verses apply to you?  It means that all those hedges and walls, all that pruning and digging, and all those rainy, dreary days are good for you!  They are God's blessings on your life!

May I not complain when I feel like God's walls of holy standards are too high and restricting, nor when I feel like the hedges of conviction are a nuisance.  May I not grumble when the Lord digs around me and my little routine in life is upset.  May I not draw back when he desires to prune away some part of me--perhaps a habit or desire--that is taking nutrients from the good fruit he desires to see in my life.  Oh, and those rain clouds--those days that aren't so cheerful--may I rejoice in those as well and receive the refreshing rain God wants me to have.  If I can but remember that these things are for my good, I can have joy.  If I do not forget that God is only tending to his pleasant plant, then I can live with a grateful heart.  Woe unto me if I turn from him and bring forth wild grapes when he looks for good.

That all sounded good when I wrote it, but a few minutes latter I realized that I needed to apply it.  I began searching my life for anything I might be struggling against:

• standards
• convictions
• change of routine
• unhealthy habits or desires
• bad days

I thank God for his Bible and the promises, encouragement, and guidance we find in it.

Alyssa