Shelf time...

         ​I’m choosing to continue with the potter and the clay process because I think there are such key lessons to be learned from it. Last week I spoke about shaping the clay into a vessel and the reality that we need to let go of our desires, our wills and let God’s perfect will be done in our lives. This week I’m looking at drying the container. I never thought that there were so many steps to this process before, but it can all be paralleled to our lives.
         After the vessel has been shaped and separated from the wheel it is time for it to dry. At this stage there is no more action taking place, it’s just sitting there waiting to dry. This reminds me of a testimony I heard many years ago from a popular singer at the time. God had just delivered her out of a life of drugs and I believe prostitution. She had rededicated her life to God and she was rearing to go to start serving God again. She wanted to sing for His honour and glory – not a bad desire, right? But God told her to wait. It was tough because there was nothing wrong with her voice, but God wasn’t interested in her talent, He was interested in her soul. She had to go through her process of cleansing, of getting back into that intimate relationship with God. It would be about just her and God for a while, the service for Him could wait.
         Sometimes we can be so eager to do things for God. We want to serve Him, give our best to Him, but He may be saying wait. It doesn’t mean that your gift, talent or ability isn’t good enough, it may just mean that you need to spend some time “drying,” developing your relationship with God so that no matter what comes your way during your service for Him, you can stand and not fall.
         I, too, have my own testimony. In mid-1992, after spending a few years in a backslidden condition, I rededicated my life to Christ. Over the next few months, it was just me and God working on our relationship together. It was a beautiful time for me. I could hear God’s voice and sense His leading. He was building His relationship with me. I finally got filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues and that was the most glorious experience I had ever been through. Even now, nothing has been able to compare to it. From the start of the following year 1993, it was as if I had taken off. I became heavily involved in church activities, it was amazing that I even had time for myself sometimes. Yes, I was ready for God’s use and boy did He use me and continues to use me in an amazing way. I needed that time to heal, to be cleansed, to be prepared for all the things God had in store for me. And believe me, I never would have dreamed that I would be doing all those things then and now.
         Yes, it’s tough being on the shelf sometimes but it’s a necessary part of the entire process. The potter’s vessel, if filled with water before it is properly dried and fired will collapse. The same thing will happen to us when we are not ready … we too will collapse - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually - if we are not ready to not just serve but to face all the challenges that come with serving.
​          I don’t know who this is for. Maybe you are active and busily doing the things that God has given you to do. But just know, that even at these times, a time of rest is oh so important. Because if you burn out physically, emotionally, spiritually, you once more become a vessel that is not fit for use. God knows you and when He says rest, rest. When He says work, work. Don’t ever believe that your season of inactivity means that you are obsolete or useless, not good enough or washed up. You just need a season of rest so that you can once again become a vessel fit for the Master’s use.