The Potter’s Hands

My life was like a lump of clay upon the Potter’s wheel—

No skill had I to shape myself, nor power to fight His will.

I knew His plan was for my good; I knew His hands were skilled;

I knew He promised joy and peace, so I resolved to yield.

But when the Potter’s hands began to poke, and rub, and press,

To twist my form and change my shape, I cried out in distress,

“Why must Your hands inflict such pain? Would love deal thus with me?

I thought the hands I yielded to would kind and gentle be!

If thus I must continue on, my fainting heart must know:

What proof is there that I should trust the hands that hurt me so?”

Without a word the Potter rose and stretched to me His hands;

It only took one look at them to silence my demands!

I still don’t know just why He chose this ugly lump of clay,

Nor what He forms, as on His wheel I spin from day to day.

Nor can I fully reconcile the goodness of His plan

With all the pain and loss I’ve felt since He His work began.

Yet in my heart is perfect peace, for there this memory stands:

The hands with which the Potter works are love-scarred, nail-pierced hands!

And they that know Thy Name shall put their trust in Thee: for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee. Psalm 9:10

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:28, 38-39

A Plentiful Rain

Just when the ground is driest . . .

Comes a full and plenteous rain,

Made of many tiny droplets

Which revive the earth again.

Just when the night is darkest . . .

Comes the turning of the sun,

And the morning breaks in beauty,

Built of rays sent one by one.

Just when our faith is smallest . . .

Comes a token of God’s care,

Adding one more precious memory

To confirm that He is there.

Just when our hearts are weary . . .

Comes a view of things not seen—

Just a glimpse of things eternal,

And our spirits soar again!

Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby Thou didst confirm Thine inheritance when it was weary. Psalm 67:9

Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures. For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light. O continue Thy lovingkindness unto them that know Thee; and Thy righteousness to the upright in heart. Psalm 36:5-10

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. II Corinthians 4:16-18

Just a Crumb

Just a crumb from Jesus’ table—just a crumb’s enough for me.

If a crumb makes such a sumptuous feast, what must the table be!

Just a glimpse of Jesus’ glory—just a glimpse is all I see.

If a glimpse so overwhelms my soul, how great His majesty!

Just a drop of His compassion—just a drop I comprehend.

It will take eternity to know His love that has no end!

Just a fraction of His fullness—just a fraction I behold.

Yet my joy is overflowing! Oh! What rapture Heav’n must hold!

And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their master’s table. Then Jesus answered and said

unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Matthew 15:22, 25-28

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Proverbs 5:18

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. I Corinthians 2:9

“Help, Lord!”

It seems at first a hopeless cry, ascending from a soul in deep despair—

Yet, ‘tis an act of faith, from one who knows that only God can reach him there!

When rising from the end of self and bringing with it nothing but its need,

It is a cry that God, in love, by His own Word obliged Himself to heed.

O soul, when earnestly, with humble heart, these desperate words you say,

Then know the answer to your need is only just a still, small voice away!

For God will surely speak a word, the miracle of strengthening grace to start,

And He will send His Comforter to teach His Word’s sweet meaning to your heart.

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. Isaiah 59:1

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:26

But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your

hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to

mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. James 4:6-10

One Small Candle

The darkness hung so thick and black, I scarcely could believe—

My very hand before my face, my eyes could not perceive!

I groped and found a candle that was lying by the way.

I struck a match and lit it, and the darkness fled away!

‘Twas such a little candle to dispel such heavy gloom!

And yet, its tiny flame sent forth its rays throughout the room!

And as I watched it burn, a simple prayer arose within:

Lord, let me be a candle in a world that’s dark with sin!

Oh, may my tiny Gospel-light, ablaze with love and care,

Illumine those around me, lost in darkness and despair.

And when a shadow falls upon a child of Your own,

May my small light remind him of the brightness of Your throne.

Lord, let my light burn steadily, wherever I may be—

In darkness great or small, may Your great glory shine through me!

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men

light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that

are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify

your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life . . . . Philippians 2:15-16a

Fences

His heart was young, and he was free! He went where he desired!

He did whate’er he pleased, and was by all his friends admired!

He ran about without a thought, without a single care,

Exploring all life had to give, and taking what was there.

One day as he was running free, with nothing on his mind,

He ran headlong right off a cliff and left the ground behind!

He had no clue the cliff was there— it dropped away so fast—

And not a soul had built a fence along the way he’d passed.

For hours he lay in agony upon the ground below.

He knew no one would come, for how would anybody know?

He’d lived so independently, and none had dared to say,

“Please tell me where you’re going to go, and what you’ll do today.”

The awful pain his body felt was nothing when compared

With how his heart was aching, just from knowing no one cared.

It matters not what happened next— when all was said and done,

He’d traded life-long pain and loss for several hours of “fun.”

This tale, of course, is fanciful—and yet, it has some truth,

For many people bear the scars of what they did in youth.

If only they had known the things they clearly see today!

If only someone else who knew had helped them find their way!

Next time you feel resentful over rules and walls you face,

Remember, please, that when you’re old, the past you can’t erase.

Be glad somebody questions where you’ll go and what you’ll do—

It just means someone cares enough to build a fence for you!

He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.

Proverbs 10:17

. . .I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey His voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him: for He is thy life, and the length of thy days. Deuteronomy 30:19-20

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye. Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle . . . .

Psalm 32:8-9