Sometimes life sucks!
Pardon my French.
Yesterday I got an email that said, “Although we were impressed with your qualifications, we have identified other candidates who better meet our requirements for this position.” This was a position that, in my opinion, I was waaayy over-qualified for . . . and I still didn’t meet their requirements! This isn’t the first response like this that I’ve gotten in the past ten months. But this one hit me hard for some reason. I sat on my bed and cried. I got in the shower . . . and I cried. Even now, over 24 hours later, I still cry when I think about it. “Why, God? When is it going to be my turn?”
Waiting for God’s plan to unfold can unbearably painful and filled with anguish. It’s easy to get antsy and think, “I’ve missed Him somehow and this is the consequence. If I do this, this, and this, maybe I can get this thing back on track.” But when we’re truly ready to trust God, sometimes waiting is part of the process. And it’s not without purpose.
Last Sunday we sang a song in church:
Change my heart, O God
Make it ever true
Change my heart, O God
May I be like You
I have been singing this song all week. Notice it doesn’t say, “Change my circumstances, O God.” It says, change my HEART. Now, don’t get me wrong. God wants us to bring our burdens to him because he loves us and cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). But the Father wants us to know Him and to find a place where we completely trust him, no matter the circumstances.
In Philippians 4:12-13 Paul writes:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (NIV)
How do you think Paul was able to say this while he was sitting in prison? His heart had been changed to the point that he could look beyond his circumstances and say, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4 NIV).
The rest of the chorus, Change My Heart, O God, goes like this:
You are the Potter
I am the clay
Mold me and make me
This is what I pray
We can’t change our own hearts. The only way our hearts are going to change is if we submit to the work Father wants to do in our lives. We’ve got to get on the Potter’s wheel and let Him mold us and make us into what He wants us to be. The process takes time and a lot of imperfections will be exposed. But God will take those imperfections and work them out in our lives and we will emerge so strong that the circumstances of our lives won’t faze us or shake our faith.
Watch this video about the Potter and Clay. Notice how gently the potter treats the clay. Even when she scoops some off the wheel, she’s never rough and critical. She just carefully begins to remold the clay remaining on the wheel. This is how our Father longs to be with us.