“So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” Jeremiah 18:3-6 NIV
The hymn Have Thine Own Way, Lord! by Adelaide Addison Pollard has long been one of my favorites. Not just as an invitation hymn, which is often when it is used, but a hymn for anytime. It is a hymn that expresses the desires of my heart. Let me share the lyrics with you.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own Way!
Thou art the potter; I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own Way!
Search me and try me, Master today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own Way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own Way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
Adelaide Addison Pollard (1862-1934)
I was reading the story behind the writing of this hymn when I realized I have something in common with Adelaide Pollard.
“At forty, Adelaide Pollard was trying unsuccessfully to raise support to go to Africa as a missionary. She wondered why the Lord could so burden her with the needs of Africa, but not make it possible for her to go. During this time of discouragement, she attended a small prayer meeting where an elderly woman prayed, “Lord, it doesn’t matter what You bring into our lives, just have Your way with us.”
That night Pollard went home and read the story of Jeremiah’s visit to the potter’s house, and later that evening she wrote this hymn. She said that she had always felt the Lord was molding her and preparing her for His service. Then all of a sudden, He seemed to have deserted her.
“Perhaps,” she reasoned, “my questioning of God’s will shows a flaw in my life. So God decided to break me, as the potter broke the defective vessel, and then to mold my life again in His own pattern.” (From The One Year Book of Hymns by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; October 16th daily reading)
For many years I felt God was drawing me and preparing me to open a children’s home to minister to children and families but I was never able to raise the funding. Through those years I continued to work in other children’s homes and other settings like a children’s psychiatric hospital and a Christian foster care program (in addition to the pastoral and music ministries I was doing on a part-time basis). I felt God had given me a vision and I planned and prepared but could never get the money I needed.
Like Adelaide Pollard I began to question God and then believe my questioning God was a flaw that God needed to purge from me and might be why I could not raise the funding. There is no doubt—questioning God is a flaw, one of the many I have. I know God is working on that in my life. But I also know God gave me those desires and that vision to help guide me in the right direction. I don’t know if I missed God’s perfect plan for me through my flaws, maybe I did. But, I do know I wouldn’t be the man I am today without those experiences and times of prayer. Maybe God never intended that I should open a children’s home but he needed me to have that vision to do what he did want me to do. God can even use my flaws to bring about His good purpose in my life. When I get to heaven I will know more clearly about that but for now resolve to know Jesus, my Lord, crucified, dead, buried, and resurrected to knew life as my Savior. Lord, have Thine own way in my life.
Blessings
Tim
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