Good morning everyone. This is Claudia. Just thought I would share a little of what I am doing these days. READING. Reading has been always a struggle for me because of my dyslexia and lack of phonic skills. It takes me hours and hours and hours to read. At times reading has given voice to lies spoken to me as a child that “You are stupid” and “You won’t amount to anything.” So reading is not my favorite thing to do. Sometimes it is the last thing I want to do. I feel God has given me plenty of time to read right now for a reason.
I have been reading two books from Lysa Terkeurst: Uninvited and It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way.
Uninvited deals with rejection. I have shared several prayers from the book on this blog and in our newsletters. It definitely helped me as we waited for news about visas and then when we received word of our application rejection.
Currently, I am reading It’s Not Supposed To Be This Way. It deals with disappointment. It has been helping me with the waiting again as we appeal before the immigration board for our visas. I wanted to share from chapter 7 titled “When God Gives You More Than You Can Handle.”
““God won’t give you more than you can handle.” But that’s not actually in the Bible. God does say He won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear and that He always provides a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). But that’s not the same as God not giving us more than we can handle. He sometimes will allow more and more and more.”
“The world is filled with people who are dealt more than they can handle. And, surprisingly, the Bible is also filled with people who were given more than they could handle. The apostle Paul wrote: For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8–9) God doesn’t expect us to handle this. He wants us to hand this over to Him. He doesn’t want us to rally more of our own strength. He wants us to rely solely on His strength.”
“Wise potters not only know how to form beautiful things from clay, but they also know how important it is to add some of the dust from previously broken pieces of pottery to the new clay. This type of dust is called “grog.” To get this grog, the broken pieces must be shattered to dust just right. If the dust is shattered too finely, then it won’t add any structure to the new clay. And if it’s not shattered enough, the grog will be too coarse and make the potter’s hands bleed. But when shattered just right, the grog dust added to the new clay will enable the potter to form the clay into a larger and stronger vessel than ever before. And it can go through fires much hotter as well. Plus, when glazed, these pieces end up having a much more beautiful, artistic look to them than they would have otherwise.”
Isaiah 45:9: “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?”
“A broken potsherd can lie on the ground and be nothing more than a constant reminder of brokenness. It can also be used to continue to scrape us and hurt us even more when kept in our hands. Or, when placed in our Master’s hands, the Master Potter can be entrusted to take that potsherd, shatter it just right, and then use it in the remolding of me to make me stronger and even more beautiful. When I understood this, I saw that in all my circumstances God was keeping me moldable while adding even more strength and beauty in the process.”
I am thankful for the time right now to read something I probably wouldn’t read otherwise. It is teaching how to turn to God when rejected and what to do when there is disappointments in life. It has also caused me to cry deeply and fall apart at times. Lysa writes, “Weak moments don’t make weak faith.” I believe God is strengthening me and making me more beautiful in His sight.
So what am I doing right now. I am putting my broken pieces in God’s hands, He is turning them into dust, and He is making me moldable for whatever is coming next.
Ha3els in Africa 