As you are

Isaiah 64:8 Yes you Lord, our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand.

I bought a new computer over the weekend, not a purchase I wanted to make but a purchase I knew was coming. So this is my first day of actually using it and I must say, it feels so different. The keys are spaced different, the screen is different, and it's, well, new! What I like about new is that I can turn it into whatever I want it to be, downloading what I want, adding what I want. It's pretty much clay for me to mold.

God has been faithful in bringing people into my life that are good for me. People that I learn from, grow with; people that I trust. I also have people in my life that I want to see change, to see them improve. People that I pray for and ask God to move out loud in their life so they will move out loud for Him. But yesterday I was reminded that all of us belong to God, all of us were made by God and all of us can only be changed through God. I think that my desires are good, afterall it's so that they will know God deeper; however if I'm to be totally honest my desires are still self driven. I'm pretty much looking at them as clay for me mold.

As I sit and ponder this what rolls over and over in my mind is a phrase God laid on my heart years ago about my father...love him for who he is, not who you want him to be. That was a freeing thing to hear but also troubling because it meant I had to accept my dad just as he was, even the parts that hurt me. But that was a very long time ago and I can honestly tell you it's the one thing that has healed our relationship deeper than anything else I ever tried. So when that phrase resurfaced yesterday with regards to someone else I thought oh no and good all at the same time!

As a Christian I am reassured that I'm not doing this life journey alone, as a Christian I am reassured that I am not left to try and figure it out on my own. But as a Christian I am also forced to admit I am not in control, people won't always say and do what I think they should, and God doesn't mold everyone the way I ask Him to. So when dealing with people that are in my life, for whatever reason, I must remember my only requirement laid down by God is to love them for who they are not for who I want them to be.