The Painful Process of Forming

We have all knelt at that altar and cried tears of love and adoration or made hasty vows to God bargaining for salvation from (fill in the blank). Our prayers were something like this: "Lord, make me more like you; remove from me those things that hinder me from holy living." Are you ready for these prayers to be answered? Are we ready to be pulled apart, heated up, broken, beaten, nailed to our own crosses by those closest to us or even the thorns in our sides with whom we work on a day to day basis?

There are many analogies we can use to describe this process. The most well-known is that of the Potter and his clay. As he forms the clay, heats it up, breaks it apart and reforms it; the clay begins to either decrease in size and/or density as he cuts or pulls out pieces that are hard.

Some of us pray for an anointed ministry, but to have the anointing we must go through much of the same crushing, beating, scraping, pressing that goes on in the shaping process of the clay. There is no escape from the process if we want maturity and intimacy with the Lord. Yes, we can squeeze by with just our enlivened spirit reborn of the Spirit of Christ and sins washed by his blood through baptism in Jesus name. Why settle for so little when we could be so much more blessed, glorious and victorious?

This is not about works but about a relationship and a maturity that requires work and endurance. Form me by whatever means needed. Bring me to the end of myself. Let my cup be carved hollow and filled with You; let it be cracked so that Your glory shines through-no matter what I must go through for it to be so.

Are we ready, truly ready to be formed into His image- the full stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13)?





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