I was studying at Starbucks today and got caught up in a thought…now you may think this is really simplistic, but hang with me – it all starts with the hands of the Potter:

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the LORD. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.’” – Jeremiah 18:1-6

On Monday, I was substitute teaching in a classroom full of kids that I hadn’t met yet and I told them I have met probably at least 1,000 kids while subbing. I didn’t say that to brag, but just to help them understand I probably wouldn’t remember their names. I enjoy subbing and have subbed for Kindergarten all the way up to 4th grade so I meet some quiet kids, helpful kids, kids full of attitude, whiny kids, happy kids, talkative kids, silent kids, tattle-telling kids, and some tough kids, but I never meet bad kids. Don’t quit reading after this “fluffy thought,” God doesn’t make junk or bad kids! In fact, we get this picture of a Potter busy at the wheel making original masterpieces.

Think about this: God does not create one person like another…there is something different about each of us all! God is creative and loves to show off His creativity in each of us. What if I step into a classroom and expect every child to be exactly like a “model student” who never misbehaves and always follows classroom expectations? What if I get frustrated because a couple kids didn’t behave like everyone else? Then I got caught up in this thought…What if every morning I said, “Okay, God…show me Your creativity today…show me Your original masterpieces and allow me to acknowledge the beauty in Your creative genius!” I think my day would go much differently, in fact… I will notice things that we miss every day. It doesn’t take very long to think about this and realize that this isn’t just a problem with kids, but with everybody. How many times have we been frustrated because someone just didn’t get it or they were so different or we may have even wrote off or ridiculed their differences? There are no creative mistakes! God makes every person unique and beautiful! Maybe this is for you to think about the kids or adults around you OR maybe this is just a reminder to you that YOU are an original masterpiece! God doesn’t look at you and think, “I wish he/she could be like someone else,” but He delights in watching you figure out Your distinctive custom differences that He intentionally created in you!

Instead of trying to change everyone or getting frustrated because everyone is not just like you, take a minute and thank our Creator God who doesn’t create flaws or mistakes but GENUINE MASTERPIECES!

I’ve been thinking about faith a lot the last couple days…not a person named Faith or even faith as we know it here in America. I’m talking about the kind of scary faith that arrests you in fear of the unknown. I’m talking about the kind of faith that asks you to believe and do things that most people would think are crazy. I’m talking about faith and not having any control of what might happen. We have made faith calculated risk when it was never supposed to be about weighing options.

Think about the Israelites for a second when they saw the sea split open enough to walk onto dry land…the sea didn’t go away, it was there on both sides staring at them. Now for all you and I know, they could have been scared that this was a trick or some crazy wave that was about to wipe them out, but in faith they took a step. That faith-filled step led to another step and pretty soon, they were walking where no one had walked before. There is one detail that I have left out…the Egyptians! They were coming at them full force and they were either going to be slaughtered or captured and made into slaves again. With that being said, you could say, “What choice did they have…they had to follow Moses, or else!” We don’t take steps of faith because they are our only option or out of fear, but let’s not forget that none of these Israelites, Moses, or anyone for that matter, had ever walked through a sea.

Currently, I see our church in the same situation…no, we are going to become roadkill to Egyptian chariots, but we are up against it. We can stay where we are and play it safe and eventually get the same results our church has always had or we can through our calculators out and go All In! I believe that God is calling His church forward, not still, but moving forward in faith while actively looking for a way to embrace the community around us any way we can with His love! It won’t be easy, it won’t be cheap, it won’t be simple, it may not even seem rational at times, but it is faith calling us to go All In!

Have you ever had “one of those days”…you know what I am talking about. I dropped the kids off at school today and came back out to start my car (in the rain) and when I put the key in, there should have been a sound effect that sounded like “wah-wah” when you lose! My car wouldn’t start and I was sitting in the drop off lane at the kids’ school. The first thing I did was bang my head against the steering wheel 20 times…no, I didn’t do that. I just had this strange peace in the moment that can only come from the Holy Spirit. My father-in-law helped me jump the battery and I was off thanks to Jay…well at least 30 feet until I turned my headlights on when it died on me. We popped the hood because that is what any man would do (even if in my case I had no idea what to look for) and I saw something that looked out of place. I’m no mechanic and lets face it, I don’t know much about cars period, but when I saw what looked like fizzing acid, I thought “I bet there is something wrong there.” Did I mention I am glad Jay was there? We took the battery out, ran to Autozone (they don’t pay me for endorsements), bought a hundred dollar battery, and drove back to put it all back together in the parking lot I began in at 9:45! By the time we finished it was 12:00 and we were soaked from the rain. I keep having this thought that I wish I had a do-over or mulligan for this morning.
This may seem like a stretch, but I thought about how we get do-overs all the time throughout our life. We don’t deserve a fraction of what God blesses us with and we often repay Him by living our own way. When we are convicted of our ways, we ask…beg…cry out for grace and He gives it to us. This isn’t so we will keep coming back for more, but He knows as we are letting Him shape us and we struggle with going our own way at times, we are going to need do-overs. I am thankful for dry clothes at the moment, a do-over to this day (even though it is after 1:00), and a reminder of how great God’s grace is…do you need a do-over?

“Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” – Ezekiel 1: 28

I am not sure how we will react to seeing the presence of God, but we get a hint of His majesty in Ezekiel. We won’t be able to compose ourselves let alone think of what to do. In Your presence, we fall facedown…in Your majesty all knees will buckle and fold…in the midst of Your glory we will be looking for sunglasses…in the warmth of Your love, we will feel at Home finally the way You originally intended.

“But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing his wrath on us? (I am using a human argument.)  Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world? Someone might argue, “If my falsehood enhances God’s truthfulness and so increases his glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?” Why not say—as some slanderously claim that we say—“Let us do evil that good may result”? Their condemnation is just!” – Romans 3:5-8

We live our lives like this when we turn a relationship with Christ into a cycle of sinning, judgment or conviction, confession, receiving grace and forgiveness, and then repeating all over again because we know God is faithful to forgive. This isn’t a relationship because there is not a mutual respect for Him! We have learned how to play the game, but the truth is we don’t know how much longer God will continue to stick around watching us play games. On one hand, you can say, “God is always faithful,” but on the other hand you can lose track of how many times you continue to sin and it becomes a habit.