Isaiah 45:9 “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
`What are you making?’
Does your work say,
`He has no hands’?

Jeremiah was famously sent by God to watch a potter at work so that he could have a similar revelation. (Jeremiah 18:1-10) Irrational though it is, most people grumble at times about who, what, and how they are. The biggest irony in that is that most of the negatives come from our own action or inaction. We complain about our weight, when we eat too much and fail to exercise. We complain about lacking talents, when we have failed to develop the ones we have. We complain about our opportunities, when we haven’t been good stewards of what we have been given. The famous quote about genius being 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration applies. God makes good stuff, which means that every human being is valuable and has great potential for good. Rather than complaining about who, how, and what we are, we need to ask God what He wants us to do with what He has supplied, including our bodies, our abilities, our opportunities, our resources, and our time. If we will listen and follow through, we will be pleased, and probably surprised, at the result.

I’m something of a poster child here, because I’ve been given a healthy body and a wide variety of abilities, yet I have complained about this, that, or the other ability I didn’t think I had. I put it that way because I have damaged my ministry by complaining about my lack of administrative gifting, when I should have been growing in the gifts I do have and rejoicing in my total dependence on God for guidance in the area of administration. After all, Moses was in the same boat when it came to administration, and he got through OK! Rather than whining about “Why didn’t You make me be more so-and-so,” I need to be praying, “Lord, show me how to be more so-and-so.” We don’t like having to work at being what we need to be! We don’t like to have to strive. (The NIV says, “make every effort,” in 2 Peter 1:5 and elsewhere.) However, God knows that I or anyone else won’t grow emotionally or spiritually if everything is always handed to me, so He calls me to be faithful with what He has already given, and not complain.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You that I can trust You to use me for Your glory if I will be obedient. Thank You for the beautiful baptism we had here, and for all You did in each person present. I pray that the man who was baptized would soon have the joy of his daughters joining him in faith, and then they, their husbands and children, so that the whole family may be established in Christ, for the blessing of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!