Have you ever noticed that when you are in God’s classroom, passing notes is strictly forbidden! The only chance you get is in between sessions.
Numbers 9:18-23 tells of how and when the Israelites followed God in the wilderness. Verse 18, “At the command of the LORD the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the LORD they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp.” Right now, my tent is pitched and for a good reason. God is remolding this vessel though the vessel insists on creating new cracks. But every time a new crack is made, he comes along and in love mends the vessel.
I’ve had the opportunity to watch him mend. And even though this vessel still has broken pieces, cracks and missing parts he still chooses to use me. We as humans still use cups and dishes even when they are broken, chipped or even have cracks in them. How much more so does our Heavenly Father use us even though we are no better than our serving ware? As long as he knows the part that is usable is fully relying on him and his Holy Spirit, then it is usable. I can only tell you of one instance.
When I had a part time job, one of the tasks was to deliver documents to local downtown businesses. One afternoon, with all the sunshine, I grabbed the documents, filled my shirt pocket with tracts and decided to walk while delivering them. Now the one set had a specific destination to the businesses, but the other set had Divine destinations to specific individuals. So, after delivery of the first set, I headed back to my job and found I had one more tract to hand out. It was then I came across a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. The Father gave me an opportunity to brag on him and give out the last tract.
Will they read the tract? Only God knows. But what I do know is that even while God has you pitched, even when he is remolding and reshaping the vessel, he can use you. If he can use someone broken like me, while under construction, then I know he can use you. Will you allow him to use the usable part?
Grace and peace, James
*Scripture from ESV, Crossway Publishing, 2001