Crushsed by the Potter's Hand

Maya Angelou wrote a book called "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."  I never read that book, but the title is speaking to me today, like it never has before.  I'm not saying I'm in a cage.  I'm not saying I am a bird.  But the last 5 years of my life have taught me that God is with us, even in the deepest, darkest valley.  He will sustain us through every trial even if the end of the trial is not the end we sought.  That knowledge, if we hold on to it, will allow us to sing.  We may sing with tears in our eyes.  The words of the song may get strangled while we gasp for air.  And we can still sing, because God said that he will never leave us or forsake us.

The bird sings during the trial because that is what the bird was designed to do.  We were made to praise God and bring Him glory.  If we are not doing that then God will allow or even send a trial to remind us that we are to be constantly seeking Him and conforming ourselves to His image.  Thus we are like clay in His hands as we go through the storm.  A potter, when making a piece of pottery will shape and form that piece on the wheel.  When it comes to a point that the piece of pottery takes on a form that the potter does not will, then the potter will grasp and knead and shape the pottery.  If that piece of pottery still does not acquire the desired form, then the potter will crush that piece of pottery and using the same material, begin the process again; shaping and molding the piece of pottery.

God has crushed me on His wheel.  He has taken His mighty hand and slammed it down upon me.  I can only thank Him that he loves me enough to do this so that one day I will acquire the desired form.  It is painful to go through this process.  There are tears and times when all I can do is wait on the Lord.  But the Lord is faithful to fulfill his promises and in this place of remaking it is quiet enough for me to hear his still, small voice.

And, my God says to me, David: I created you to worship Me.  I loved you so deeply that I made My son to suffer for all of your sins.  David, if I love you that much, then surely you can trust me to lead you and to restore your soul.  Son, I know you are in pain.  I know your heart is broken.  I know you feel like you are unwanted and unloved by man.  I know you feel worthless.  I know you feel weak and powerless to stop this thing that hurts you so much that you want to take the very life that I gave you.  But David, My word says to fear not over 80 times.    My Son, what the enemy has taken I will restore in time.  You must go through this so that I can perfect you and prepare you.  Those are no longer your people.  That is no longer your home.  I am taking you to a new place and I will be with you every step of the journey.

And I say to my Father: Lord, I have fasted and prayed.  The burden is yours now.  I cast my care upon you and I await your perfect answer.  Through tears I say that I am yours and yours alone.  My mind cannot comprehend what you are doing, but Your word says you are working all things together for my good.  I ask you to protect and preserve those that I love.  I ask you to allow your spirit to enter into their hearts and minister to them.  I ask you to bless them and prosper their lives with much fruit.  Father I ask that you would restrain the hand of the enemy in their lives.  That you would cancel any assignments given in an effort to upset your plans.  I ask that You would forgive them of their sins and replace their hearts of stone with hearts of flesh so that they will be sensitive to You.  And I will praise you Lord, all of the days of my life.  I will sing to you at midnight when I am in jail.  I will sing your praises from the depths of my soul in the dry places.  I will speak of the joy only you can give.  And I will   Father I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ.  

How to Respond to a Hard Heart

Brothers and Sisters when I posted my previous post I was unable to understand the importance of this concept.  Having said as much I need to warn the reader that I may need to break this into two segments.  

Firstly, as I wrote in the previous entry, there is someone close to me who has a hard heart against me.  If you don't know what that looks like, or feels like, please read that part again before reading ahead. 

So, brothers and sisters, the first thing I must do is reveal the effects of a hard heart on those that love the possessor of such a heart.  To avoid confusion, from here on the hard hearted person will be the "victim" and the object of the hard heartedness will be the 'bystander'. 

 In order to put it in a perfect context (I think), there is a death that occurs inside the bystander that changes them.  It is a humbling sort of emptiness that can be consuming.  The victim's behavior is so thoroughly degrading that the bystanders state is perpetual melancholy and extreme anger.  It is this state of the bystander that is both dangerous and necessary.  

It is dangerous because we have an enemy that wants to tempt us.  He knows us, and he is aware of the conditions that make us weak.  The greatest danger for the bystander is 'sin' because what the bystander desires more than anything else is to escape the pain.  The easiest way to escape is to self-medicate through sin.  Overeat, get drunk, let a few choice words fly, slam doors, kick things, go hangout at places you should not be in, look at things you shouldn't look at; listen to music you shouldn't listen to, all so you can forget how badly you are being treated if only for a short time.  And then, your opinion of yourself is lowered even more because you sinned.  So a cycle begins and the bystander struggles mightily to maintain an identity in Christ while they are in the storm.

But this is a necessary condition in that the bystander must exist in this state so that God can be glorified!  The bystander must understand that nothing can be done for the victim's heart apart from God.  The bystander learns to trust God by continuing to 'go through' the storm which is the victim.  The bystander learns to depend on God's grace and learn that God's grace is sufficient.  What the bystander must learn is that a person cannot control another person's heart.  They can only pray and continue to love unconditionally.  From this perspective, the bystander becomes stronger in Christ by picking up that cross and following Jesus.  Once again, God can show victory in those who are broken.  Not by their own power, but by his grace.

^{Hebrews 12}

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

⁸ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

⁹ Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

¹⁰ Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

¹¹ For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.