20,21 “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?”
Romans 9:20,21 (NASB)
The two-week Colorado sports camp for college athletes was filled with competition, teaching and Bible study discussions. Closing night included the typical open mic for campers to share what they had learned. After several athletes took their turn, a tearful volleyball player got up to speak.
She talked about losing her mom to an illness at an early age, and then her brother in recent years. She felt that she had been robbed of a happy family life so many of her teammates had experienced. Resentment toward God had settled in her heart over the years.
Through the teaching at camp, God opened her eyes about His love for her, and her family. For the first time, she came to the conclusion that as the only Christian in her extended family, God had placed her there to be a testimony of the relationship He offered them.
What a significant discovery! In our demand to have what we deeply desire, we can miss that God has a purpose in how He made us and how He uses us. When this insightful volleyball player realized that God created her for a purpose, it overwhelmed any sense that God had given her less than He had given others.
We will probably never recognize in this life the extent that God has orchestrated the twists and turns in our lives for the benefit of others. No matter how the Potter has chosen to shape us, He has made us the object of His grace and the agent of His purposes.
