HAVE THINE OWN WAY

Like me, many had plans to launch their dreams and ambitions only to have it all stumped at the last minute for one reason or another.

During a house meeting, someone testified and had this to say, "It doesn't matter what You bring into my life Lord, its okay with me, only have Your way!"

Immediately my thoughts went back to a portion of scripture I had read sometime ago, in Jeremiah 18:1-10:


New International Version (NIV)
18 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 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.


5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 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. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed,

8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

Later on upon examining verse 4, i reflected on the marred vessel in the potter's hand which was re-modeled into another, one which was deemed good to the potter.


The lesson for the need to recognize God's will and to allow Him mold and shape me according to His own design, eventually kicked-in and I took a different viewpoint in the way my directions in life took from its original standpoint.


I also learnt, the marred and re-modeled vessel is from the same source, only transformed by the potter's ingenuity. That taught me to accept, I may not have been up to a task at an earlier stage, but having been re-modeled by the experiences I went through over the years, I now may be in a better position to contemplate the given task or responsibility.

The molding of our lives according to His ways thwarts condemnation and disaster- v8.


Unlike conventional warfare and competition, the ways of God differs, in that "In surrender, one finds peace".


Ask yourself today, 'Are you letting the Potter have His way in your life?"

AVOID A BITTER ATTITUDE

Great strides in medical science is making it possible for people live longer and healthier. But all this are no guarantee; one day aging will overtake us and our bodies shut down.

Deuteronomy 32:44-52
New International Version (NIV)
44 Moses came with Joshua[a] son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

48 On that same day the Lord told Moses, 49 “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadeshin the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

What is preventable is, an attitude of bitterness and regret as we grow older. Reading the scripture text above, at a 120 years of age, Moses stands with his fellow Israelites before they crossed the Jordan River to enter into the Promised Land (Israel).

He was disallowed to go with the rest for he had at some point during the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, disobeyed God, whereby in his anger he struck the rock in the wilderness:

Numbers 20:12
New International Version (NIV)
12 But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”
Numbers 20:24
New International Version (NIV)
24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people. He will not enter the land I give the Israelites, because both of you rebelled against my command at the waters of Meribah.

Moses had every right to fall into self-pity and be resentful. After all for 40 years he bore the burden of a stubborn and stiff-necked people. Try managing the handful you might have in your organisation or home-cell.


Was it not Moses who interceded for the people time and again throughout the wilderness journey?


Now at the sunset of his life viewing the Promised Land from atop Mt Nebo, his designated resting place, he offers praise to the Almighty, and urges the new generation of Israelites to obey Him:

45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Likewise as we grow older and fade into the sunset of our lives, we can either dwell on our failures and hardships endured in the years gone by and bicker and regret or instead, we can remember the faithfulness of God, accept His countless discipline and keep looking to the future in faith.

For in so doing, we avoid a bitter attitude.

We cannot avoid growing old, but we can avoid growing cold!

A sure way of living life positively would be to praise Him daily.