Purpose

     A few years ago I came back to the church I grew up in after having been gone almost 15years.  I reconnected with a few people I knew from growing up there.  Most of them are the parents of people from my youth group.  Ahhh…my high school youth group…good memories!  I loved that youth group!  My youth pastor was/is awesome.  You can see the love of Jesus in his eyes and glowing around him as he smiles.  He has this tone of voice as he speaks of the Lord that's so loving yet honest and firm.  He truly shined Jesus for me (and still does for so many).  I looked forward to Wednesdays and hated it if I missed. 

     As I talked to the parents of the kids that were in youth group with me I discovered many of them are now on the mission field or in ministry of some kind.  It didn't take long before I grew frustrated with myself.  That I wasted so many years in my late teens and early twenties living for myself.  Years I could have invested in growing in the Lord and doing things to grow His kingdom.  Where did those years get me?  What have I done with my life?  I did come back to the Lord and He has taken me from where I left off with Him and has been growing me quickly.  The Lord has blessed me with children and a wonderful husband, though I took the long way around to get there.  Still I thought, "I am just a wife and mother.  Nothing extraordinary about that.  Not like being a missionary.  Other then vacations, I've never even left the city I was born in." 

     After what seemed like weeks of being frustrated and hard on myself it's almost like the Lord had enough of my wallowing.  In firmness and love He showed me something I will not forget.  He showed me two cups.  One made of gold and adorned with jewels that shined.  The other a simple wood cup that was worn down.  The gold cup was extraordinary and valued.  This is how I was seeing the church value missionaries.  The wooden cup was an ordinary cup that gets everyday use.  That symbolized me, a wife and a mom, a very common life.  The Lord showed me that both of these cups had equal value to Him.  If you lost either of these cups you would know it.  The gold one has high value but the wooden one is used daily and would be greatly missed if it was lost.  He showed me that raising these beautiful children was a blessing and an honor and He highly valued the time, energy and effort I am putting into raising them in the ways of the Lord.  Bringing them up to shine the light of Jesus into the next generation.  Tending to them day by day.  This is highly valued by the Lord. 

     He showed me that even the churches value system can get messed up sometimes.  Missionaries are important!  Absolutely!  As are pastors, ministers, deacons, elders and other leaders in the church.  In God's eyes, everyone is important.  Everyone has their place in the body of Christ.  Jesus shed the same amount of blood for every person.  Not one person had a higher or lesser price to pay for their salvation.  We are all equal value.  He loves us all equally.  He showed me that living in the city I was born in is exactly where He wants me right now.  Being where God wants us to be is vital. 

     A peace and a joy came over me as I was assured that God is in control.  He knows why He's fashioned one for noble purposes and the other for common uses.  He knows where I am and is not disappointed.   That assurance was awesome but God showed me the wooden cup again.  It began to turn just slightly and I could see God was still working on this cup.  He was fashioning beautiful details on it and more that I couldn't see clearly.  "I'm not finished with you yet."  He whispered in my heart. 

Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common uses.  Romans 9:21