… Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: | ||
| Ephesians 1:11 | ||
| ‘Who hath counseled the Lord?’ asked Isaiah (40:13). The answer? Most of us. ‘Now, Lord,’ we say, ‘I don’t know if You’re seeing this right. I don’t know if You understand the severity of the situation I’m in. Lord, did You see what he just did? Did You hear what she just said?’ — as if we expect the Lord to say, ‘No. Thanks for filling Me in! What should I do about it?’ God works everything after the counsel of His own will. And although we might be tempted to ask what right the Lord has to do this, Paul asks the much more logical question when he says, ‘Who are you — a lump of clay — to question the plan of the Father?’ (Romans 9:20). I’m sure Jeremiah was confused when, after preaching 40 long years to the people of Judah, no one responded. So it was that at a certain point in his ministry, the Lord said to him, ‘Jeremiah, take a break. Go to the house of the potter and there you will learn a lesson.’ When Jeremiah did indeed go to the house of the potter, he watched him place a lump of clay upon the wheel and position his foot upon the pedal. As the wheel began to spin round and round, the potter began to put pressure on the clay, skillfully shaping and molding it into something of beauty. There are times when I feel as though I’m spinning my wheels, going in circles, or feeling pressured. ‘Where are You, Father?’ I cry. ‘Don’t You care about me? How could You allow this to happen in my life?’ But then the Lord brings me back to the very simple realization that the Hands which put pressure on my life and the Foot which spins the wheel have holes in them where nails pierced them as the Master Potter hung on the Cross to die in my place. That’s why Communion is so very important in the life of the believer. Somehow all of the questions and confusion I so often feel as I analyze my situation and question my circumstances are solved immediately when I remember Jesus’ unbelievable, undeniable love for me. | ||
