Not More

When God led His people into the Promised Land, He did so step by step. If He had allowed them to annihilate their enemies at once, the land would have been too difficult to manage. So He allowed some of the enemies to remain for a time in order to maintain the land and suppress the wildlife. In doing so, God taught His people to trust Him step by step. He gave them only as much responsibility as they could handle at one time. As God leads you in your Christian growth, He will allow challenges that match your character and relationship to Him. God will not totally change your character at once when you become a Christian. Rather, He will lead you through a process to become more like His Son. He will keep working in an area in your life until it is controlled by the Holy Spirit. You may eagerly desire maturity in every area of your character, but steady, gradual growth is more lasting. God will not take shortcuts in His process of making you like Christ. He sees your life from eternity and will take as long as necessary to produce lasting spiritual growth in you. Do not become impatient while God is producing Christ-likeness in you. Do not seek more responsibilities than those He has given you. Obey all that you know He has asked, and He will lead you at a pace that fits your present character and His purposes for you. - Blackaby

As one who can see that in many ways, God made me to be a problem solver, I can easily over analyze some things.

For the absolute longest time I certainly was my own worst enemy.  Nitpicking my thoughts, actions and taking apart the results. 

It's taken a lifetime to realize, and some days I still struggle with it, that I am not the potter.  I am the clay.

It isn't up to me to fix me.  It's up to the Potter to make me into who He wishes me to be.

There will always be times when I face things greater than me.  There will be times that I just won't understand.  You have any idea how difficult it is for a guy who's higher than most IQ and built-in troubleshooting abilities can't figure out something?  How easy it is to get wrapped around the axle I can get about solving problems in my life? In the lives of others?

My brain isn't like most people.  I have the ability to compartmentalize problems to solve.  When a solution is at hand it's like a huge whiteboard comes down in front of me.  I see a hand with a marker connecting the dots of the problem.  I may seem to be staring blankly but in reality a whole lot is going on.  Sometimes those compartments have had problems stewing in them for decades.

So to see an immediate or near immediate problem and not knowing an answer can put my brain into overdrive.
It actually can hurt.  To see others struggling with trying to solve problems causes me to want to help.

But the reality of the Spiritual life is we are HIS workmanship.  There are and will be painful 'surgeries' to the masterpiece being created.  And stop right there and realize this truth.  EACH of us, in Christ, is a masterpiece to our Creator God.

We may look to a physical face for peace and understanding...but only the Master Craftsman the Author and Perfector of our faith knows what we will be like.

Take, for instance, a Master Chef.  There are dishes that he or she can give you a detailed list if ingredients to. You can be at an identical station near them. While their dish comes out looking like perfection itself, yours is far from perfect.
Why?  Because of the touch of the Master's hands.

There was a song out long ago by that name.  In it an instrument was up for bid that was part of an estate. The old violin didn't look like much and the bidding was low. Then someone came up and played it like it was meant to be played.  The Auctioneer had a renewed sense of awe for the item.  The bidding level went sky high!  People asked what happened, what changed?  They missed it.  He says.  It was the touch of the Master's hand. That's what changed.

Our lives will always have tribulations. There won't be all sunshine and rainbows everywhere, every day.

There won't be celebration all the time, at least not until we all, who are saved, get to Heaven.  Until then, the work on us is never done.  We have a patient Master Creator who has the best in mind for us. There will be good things and perceived bad things that happen to us.  But as Scripture says, we are in His hands. The hands of the Master.  The Potter's hands.

There will be periods of intense work on our lives. There will be periods of rest.

Watch a potter on a special piece.  To do complicated things requires small steps that build one upon another until the larger work is completed.

TobyMac has a song called Move.

It's rather motivating to listen to the truth in it.  Find it, listen to it. Then look at the life of Paul.  He could have given up when imprisoned wrongfully. He could have figured that God was done with him when things came up that he was told no concerning.  No, he intentionally tells us it's a race we are in. We will get knocked down.  Get up. Keep moving. There's a prize at the end.  The prize isn't going away.  The race is still on.  We fell. It hurts. Get back up. Scripture says to consider it all joy when we encounter various trials.  Yes we will be given more than we can bear.  It's to instill in us our dependence upon our God and not ourselves.  Our race is run with the Spirit.  We will cross the finish line together.

So look at your life today.  Remember whose you are, if you are a Christian.
The daily thing's may seem to be painful. But be aware your Master Craftsman is there. You are in His hands.