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"You are set apart for powerful and revealing glimpses of God’s Hand in your life."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 56.
Talk about a purpose - that's one I want to believe more fully in my life - don't you? To be purposed with seeing times of God's powerful hand in my life is something I'd like to have a greater understanding as to how to make happen more often.
Problem is that we can't do anything to make God's hand more visible in our lives. Sure we can read our Bibles more and spend more time in prayer. These are but two strategies that will help us get to know this God in ways that will make it easier to recognize God's hand in our lives. As for making God's hand be seen more in our lives, that's something that is just out of our control.
I think that we need to be asking ourselves an important question. Why do we want to see God's Hand in our lives? Is it because we have a particular situation that is causing us discomfort of one kind or another and we would like God's Hand to be there to remove that situation? Or maybe it is that we have doubts that we think can only be answered by the miraculous. Whatever the reason, seeking after God's hand for any reason other than relationship with God is a strategy that has victim thinking written all over it.
God is not there to meet our expectations. His actions, the results of His Hand moving in our lives, isn't something we can bank on to make our lives easier or more of what we want them to be. God didn't create us so that we could be served by Him. He created us for a purpose that includes acts of service to Him. It is when we are obedient to His call that we start to see His Hand moving more specifically in our lives.
Take a look at what Isaiah says about God's Hands.
Still, God, you are our Father. We’re the clay and you’re our potter: All of us are what you made us. Psalm 64:8 (MSG)
Want to see evidence of God's hand in your life? Take a look in the mirror. The very fact that your reflection shows back an image is proof that God's Hand is in your life according to our reading today.
We are the clay, God is the potter. It is the potter's hands that shapes the clay into something useful. I love how The Message puts the last line of this verse. "ALL OF US are what you made us." God didn't make part of you. He didn't forget a particular skill or ability that you feel you need to be more useful in this world.
ALL of you was made by God. It took His hand to form each and every part of who you are. Even those things that you might think are a mistake in your life have been touched by the Hand of God. I'm in no way saying that God created some disability in your life - that would be just plain evil. But, the potter has allowed the blemishes to be part of the finished work for a purpose that some might think is down right foolish. Even what we think are mistakes are part of what has been set apart for purposes to see God's Hand even more clearly.
It has been my mistake over the years to universally equate God's Hand with getting what I ask for. Having my prayers answered is a clear move of God's Hand in my life to be sure. But it isn't the only way God's Hand can be seen. Answers are the easiest way to see God's Hand but He wants us to see His Hand in the hard as well.
He is the potter, I am the clay. This is the only way I know that places me in the most advantageous position to live the life of the victor God has made available for me. In the good times, the potter is the one who makes it possible for me to reap the benefits of all the good that is happening in ways that glorify the works of the potter's hand. It is in the bad times when the potter shapes my life in ways that make it possible for the light of Heaven to be seen even when darkness seems to be winning the day.
Last I checked, the clay has little to say about what it will be formed into by the potter. Yet, that's what I try and do when I'm all up in God's face telling Him how his hand should work in my life at times. God truly has the patience of a saint! His patience stems from the fact that we are loved dearly by our creator. He even overlooks me telling Him how He should be do His job when it comes to my life and to the lives of those around me.
I know it is really tempting to think that God doesn't know what He is doing when the crazy times hit. It is so easy to think that we know best when we feel our life being challenged by this world. It is during those challenging times that we have an amazing opportunity to let the formation happen. His hands are on us. Those hands are expertly shaping our lives so that the maximum power of heaven can be seen here on earth.
As you face your day today, think about this. You are nothing more than a lump of clay. That lump is useless until it has been formed into the vessel God intends your life to be. Let that shaping happen and watch as you catch glimpses of His hand in your life today.
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