Clay in the Hands

It is really sad to say, but unfortunately, this occurrence is rare.  Maybe it is timing, maybe it is motivation, I am not sure, but God’s plan and our availability do not always result in great things for God.  But when it does, you cannot contain the results.

So if God has a plan and we make ourselves available to be used by God, why wouldn’t it always result in great things?  I struggle with this issue.  But two things have surfaced for me over the past few years.  One is that we are not God (I know – a real inspirational and deep thought showing my real genius!).  Our job is to maintain a close enough relationship with God that we sense when God is moving in a certain direction and in the lives of people around us.  When we sense it, we must be ready and available to jump in.  Unfortunately, many times, I am not maintaining my relationship with God on a daily basis and thus my heart is not where it needs to be in order to sense God’s prompting.

Another reason for the rarity of seeing great things happen is our motivation.  Perhaps we are poised and ready, we have seen God’s movement around us and we make ourselves available and jump in to be used by God in some situation or effort, but still nothing much seems to come from it.  If our motivation is to receive a blessing or “make something happen,” then we are getting involved for selfish reasons.  God will not be manipulated.

But, when God’s plan intersects with purely motivated availability – the results are hard to explain.  The key is to be sensitive to God’s leading and be willing and available to be used in whatever manner God chooses without concern for outcome.  Ever group I have taken to do mission work has heard me say at least once over the course of the trip, “Be flexible.  It is not about us – it is about being used by God.  We may never see the fruit or the results of our efforts but that is OK.”  When we approach serving God from this understanding – of being available to be used regardless of the outcome – then God can do mighty, life-changing things with us and in us.

I firmly believe that it is impossible for a person to come face to face with God’s love and not be changed.  The results are not up to us, but the choice to be available is.

Make yourself available to God today and don’t worry about the outcome.