View Blog Entry

One sweltering day in August, we toured the town of Salado with some friends.

Downtown Salado is small, with a main street, some shops, a couple of restaurants, and a candy/gelato shop. But not far from the street is a glass-blowing place. We checked it out and found the shop full of vases, bowls, and cups. They were colored blue, orange, red, and green. We admired them and then got the chance to watch the craftsmen work.

We crowded on the metal benches and observed as one of the two men worked on a glowing red-orange lump on the end of a long tube. He heated it and then rolled the tube on a table nearby. He repeated this several times, but the lump didn't change much. The other man held up a glass mug and said his friend was making that.

I wondered how that blob could turn into a mug. Then the craftsman rolled the lump in some colored beads, rolled it a little more, and blew into the other end. The glob expanded and stretched until it was hollow. After the man touched it up and added a handle, it actually looked like a mug.

We’re useless when God first begins His work on us. Even as He shapes and molds us, it seems we're not making any progress—until He adds his finishing touches and we see how far we've come.

As God forms us into a useable person, we might wonder what He's doing. It feels as if He's doing a lot of unnecessary rolling and causing us needless pain. We may even fight against it. But maybe we're supposed to sit back and see what He's doing. Perhaps while He's forming us, He wants us to be still before Him and be confident in Him. But when He's done with us, we can accomplish much for Him and His kingdom.

How can you be more submissive to God’s molding of you?

(Photo courtesy of pixabay and sabinevanerp.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)