I was hosting a dinner party the other evening and wanted to use my special dishes, as it was a special occasion. I had a beautiful white milk glass bowl with an engraved rose designed that I inherited from my grandmother that I thought would be great for the corn. I wasn’t familiar with how durable milk glass is, but as there were a few stains on it I decided to try and clean the bowl by filling it with hot water….boiling hot water. Within seconds the bowl split in two, fell apart, and the water went everywhere.
As I cleaned up the mess, I reflected on how God, as the Heavenly Potter, works with us, shapes us, and knows our make-up, and yes, allows us to pass through necessary fires that work to change the very fiber of our faith and character—changes that make us useful vessels for Father’s purposes. But unlike what I did with my bowl, His work with us is perfect. And if we crack and break, His love holds us and He starts anew. He doesn’t throw us away.
My little milk bowl was pretty, but it couldn’t take the heat. But Father isn’t making us pretty little bowls to sit on a shelf, but sons and daughters in His image who go through the fire….a fire that burns away the dross and purifies our walk, until like Him, our feet are as burnished bronze in a world of clay and our eyes aflame, not of judgments, but of divine love. And what’s more, He walks through the fire with us, preparing us for ever greater realms of Kingdom service.
Peter said to rejoice, even though we are tried by circumstances (as though tested by fire), knowing that something is happening inside us in that very process of firing. Something is changing – what is unsound is becoming sound. Our very structure is being transformed into the likeness of the Son.
If you are going through some fire, trust Father’s care, for you are not just some pretty little bowl, but a vessel of honor that He is shaping for His great purposes through you. Rejoice and give thanks—you will come through without even the smell of smoke on you, and you’ll discover the chains that once hindered you to be no more.
J Nicole – daughter of the King
pic by mysoulrhythms.com
