by Richelle Hecker

Letting God use you for His purpose

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this Soundcloud link. 

My four older children are each talented artists, and each excel in different ways. For example, one is best at human figures, another animals, a third at geometric designs, and the fourth at architectural structures. If we begin talking about mediums, then it separates into painting, drawing, music, sculpture, writing, and a myriad of ways they best express their abilities. On occasion one will reveal that they wished they had the same talent as their sibling. As their mother, I want them each to understand how their own strengths enhance our family unit. I imagine them someday coming together on a project and creating something spectacular.

This photo is of an artist who has painted her hand rather than the canvas placed in front of her. Her hand is a temporary work of art, while the intended more permanent piece in front of her remains undone. This makes me think of how often we do this as well. God gives us time, and talents, to use for His pleasure, but we choose to use them for our own ideas instead. More significantly, we often fail to appreciate what He has given us and desire what He has granted someone else. Perhaps like this artist, we even focus on changing what He has given us, trying to make it look like something else, while ignoring God’s original design. Just like the work on the artist’s hand, the changes we make to cover up how God made us are only temporary. He made each of us the way we are for a purpose, and He desires us to use our time and talents together for His glory.

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all of us are the work of Your hand..”
Isaiah 64:8 New American Standard Bible 

All of us are created by God for a purpose. It is best to seek out what God wants us to do, with the canvas He has placed in front of us, rather than try to become something else. If God needs us to be something else He will change us.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado