You know, there isn't anything very pretty about a can of Play Doh other than it's color unless a child has squished together several different colors and then it's just an ugly, gunky mess.
This is the way our lives are until God takes hold of them. Play Doh, unto it's self has no aspirations. Until it is in the hands of the Creator, it will be nothing.
I found an old can of Play Doh while cleaning out a closet. When I opened it and took it in my hands, I discovered it was... nothing but a wad of dried out gunk. It wasn't pliable; it wouldn't give when I squeezed it; it was like a rock. Our hearts can be like that old wad of Play Doh; dried up, hard and difficult to do anything with. I probably could have added a bit of water to that old worthless piece of gunk and it would have become pliable again. If we allow the Holy Spirit within us to soften our heart, He can make it pliable again and make us useful in His kingdom.
This is the way our lives are until God takes hold of them. Play Doh, unto it's self has no aspirations. Until it is in the hands of the Creator, it will be nothing.
I found an old can of Play Doh while cleaning out a closet. When I opened it and took it in my hands, I discovered it was... nothing but a wad of dried out gunk. It wasn't pliable; it wouldn't give when I squeezed it; it was like a rock. Our hearts can be like that old wad of Play Doh; dried up, hard and difficult to do anything with. I probably could have added a bit of water to that old worthless piece of gunk and it would have become pliable again. If we allow the Holy Spirit within us to soften our heart, He can make it pliable again and make us useful in His kingdom.
But, sometimes we like to inform God what we are most useful for rather than allowing God to mold us into His will. We think we know our strengths and weaknesses and we like to tell God what we can and cannot do. However, like Paul, we could discover that God can use us in spite of our weaknesses.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7: 9-10 MSG " Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, 'My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.' Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."
Sometimes, God doesn't want us to be the "shiniest thing in the kitchen". Sometimes the work He has for us to do may be very humbling. However, He knows where He can use us for His glory in spite of our weaknesses. All we have to do is be willing to be pliable in His hands.
"In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing." 2 Timothy 2:20-21 MSG
How pliable are you?
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 7: 9-10 MSG " Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, 'My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.' Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."
Sometimes, God doesn't want us to be the "shiniest thing in the kitchen". Sometimes the work He has for us to do may be very humbling. However, He knows where He can use us for His glory in spite of our weaknesses. All we have to do is be willing to be pliable in His hands.
"In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing." 2 Timothy 2:20-21 MSG
How pliable are you?
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