PICK YOURSELF UP

PICK YOURSELF UP

“I went down to the potter’s house and saw him working with the clay. Whenever what he was making turned out badly, he tried again until what he made pleased him. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Can I not do for you what the potter does with the clay?’ ” 

(Jer. 18:1-6)

This reading can be seen in a couple of ways.  Some see it as God saying that He is controlling our lives, which I think leads us in the wrong direction. Many people believe exactly that and when things go awry they immediately demand to know why God didthat!  The other way to see it is described in the song, which advises, “Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.”  When Ezekiel’s wife dies, God pretty much tells him the same thing. (Ez 24: 15-23)

So many people feel helpless when it comes to God. They feel that they have no control, but must endure whatever He decides to send them.  Yet, nearly everything that happens can be traced back to the choices made by people.  No matter what it is, the free will of the human being is at the heart of it.  God is not toying with us; giving us free will and then overriding it.  That would be so cruel.  It just isn’t God. 

What this passage is saying, is that God has given us the gifts we need to do as the potter did, start over and make something new.  Writers, composers, artists, builders and others who are trying to create something are often faced with failures and they have to start over.  So it is with every day life.  

How often do things turn out badly in life?  How often is the end result not what we wanted at all?  Trusting in God is what helps us to consider the situation and make the decision to accept what is and to grow in it and learn from it and move on. People of faith know this to be the truth, but I realize that for some people that statement is pure nonsense. Why wouldn’t it be? If a person has no real knowledge of God especially through Jesus Christ they would not understand. 

Shortly after the death of my husband, I was working with a client on her computer problem when she asked me to dinner the next evening at her home.  I was taken aback because I hardly knew her, but since Dave’s death a lot of people had been kind so I agreed.  After the dinner while we having coffee, she asked me what drugs was I taking. I said I wasn’t taking any.  She insisted I must be taking Valium or something, because I seemed so calm.  I told her I relied on God; that I knew he was with me and had sustained me throughout.

I won’t say she threw me out, but you’ve heard the expression; “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?”  That’s pretty much how it felt as the evening ended abruptly.

I’ve thought about that night a lot and felt I had failed her.  Still, I said it and I have no idea how it affected the rest of her life. I have to leave that up to God.  I do know that she never called me for help again, for what that’s worth.  

Blessings as you try to bring God to others.

Carol Lemelin OPA