From The Pastor >
3-5-2017 Shifting Sands of Life

FROM THE PASTOR

March 5, 2017

 

A while back my daughter Ashley brought me a sand-art frame from Arizona. It has different colored sand of slightly different sizes and weights suspended in a liquid that allows the sand to flow as the frame is flipped from end to end. It also has a layer of tiny bubbles that almost, but not quite, covers the entire length of the frame. These air bubbles will block a portion of the sand from shifting to the bottom of the frame while allowing others to flow freely thereby creating the illusion of a 3-dimensional image.

 

The 3-dimension image is neat, but the real beauty is that each time the frame is flipped there’s no guarantee what the picture will end up looking like until the last grain of sand has settled. One time it will look like a desert scene and the next time land and sky. It’s fascinating to just sit back and watch what can be created by the shifting sands. As I watched it from my desk this week, I was reminded that our lives are like the grains of sand in that frame when within the hands of God.

 

God’s Word makes me confident of three things:

  1. God is the One who, with His own hands, has formed us. Genesis 2:7; Psalms 139:13
  2. God is the One who, with us in mind, has perfect plans for us. Isaiah 25:1; Jeramiah 29:11
  3. God is the One who, with His sovereignty and power, continues throughout every day of our lives to reshape us. Ephesians 3:20; 1 Peter 1:5

What’s your first thought as God flips the frame and the sands once again begin their shift in your life? Do you cry out, “Oh no, Lord! Not again!” or do you confidently proclaim, “Yes, Lord! Make me and mold me according to your perfect will Lord!”

We are God’s… the picture is never not about us… it’s always about the Master. God has both the right and the authority to use us to create whatever picture He intends as we represent His creation.

I’m a poor artist. Stick figures at times can be almost unrecognizable. Left up to my talent the outcome would be a disaster. So, because of that I am thankful the Master Artist is in control and all I need to do is obediently follow His lead as He flips the frame of life and uses me to create the picture He desires.

Isaiah 64:8 (NASB)
8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay sand, and You our potter artist, And all of us are the work of Your hand.

 

Thank You for your faithfulness! Pastor Larry