The Material Is Immaterial

He said to me, you are my servant, Israel, in whom I will show My glory. Isaiah 49:3

It is easy to read a verse like this and have no trouble seeing the words as they apply to Christ. I find myself saying, “Of course God was able to show His glory and be glorified through Christ. He walked on this earth for 33 years without sin. He did everything right. He never needed healing or fixing. He was perfect!”

It is more difficult to accept the fact that He says the same words to me. That as His servant, He could be glorified and show His glory through me. I look at the “material” He has to work with and it is not always pretty. I know my own heart. I knew my propensity to sin. I know what I am capable of doing. I know my weaknesses and my wounds.

A couple years ago I remember feeling like my life did not give God much to work with. Anything He found in me seemed damaged and unusable. There came a point when I stopped pretending with God and admitted how I really felt. I told Him I did not feel like I was very good material for Him to work with. The list of failures and defects was long and just poured out of me. As I opened up I anticipated silence at best and condemnation at worst. I expected God to give me a list of things to start doing for Him so what He had to work with would improve.

None of that happened. Instead, God shared a truth with me that completely surprised me. The amazement is not in the wood, it is in the carpenter. It is not the instrument but the musician. It is not the paints, it is the artist . It is not the clay, it is the potter. In other words, the material is beside the point. When placed in His hands, He can work wonders with anything….and anyone! The more defective the material the more wonder over the finished product.

His glory is shown not in what He has to work with as much as in what He accomplishes from the material. My limitations do not limit Him. They showcase His abilities. So now I can rest in the fact that as the Carpenter, Musician, Artist, and Potter of my life, God will do wonders!

Father, You are able to do so much with the little I give You to work with. Glorify Yourself in and through me. I know You always finish what You start. Amen.