My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!

This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. (Psalm 119:28, 50 ESV)

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

The Master Craftsman

Our pastor gave the following devotional at Verity's shower Saturday evening...

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In the working world, before our modern era, a man would typically work at the same craft as his father.  He would begin his work as an apprentice working under a master for a number of years.  When he was proficient at his craft, he could work on his own as a journeymen and then after many years as a journeymen, he would petition the powers that be to become a master craftsman or master tradesman.  For a journeymen to become a master he would need to produce a certain amount of money, and he would have to create a masterpiece. He would often spend months if not years on this—his finest work—and it was only after he displayed his finest artistic skill and that piece was accepted by the other masters in his field that the journeymen could be called master.  In Psalm 139 we see God as the master craftsman, lovingly at work on His masterpiece, and when we understand the love and care He has put in to us, His creation, it can have a profound impact on the way we view ourselves and others.  

Psalm 139:13-18 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand— when I awake, I am still with you.”

We think about this child being formed in her mother’s womb.  A perfect masterpiece as God the master craftsman has designed.  We don’t always know the goals and desires of the Lord, but we know He is always good.  And we trust that this child is exactly who God, the great master craftsman, has designed her to be.  There is a great deal we can learn from Verity.  One, that God’s ways are above our ways.  The psalmist also said in verse 6 that the knowledge of God is too much for him to understand.  It is true.  While we may want answers or search for meaning, sometimes we have to know that God’s ways are above our ways, and it is enough to trust that God is in control.  

The second thing to remember is that God has not nor ever will He forget or abandon us.  In verse 17 the psalmist considers the thoughts that God has about him, and he says “they outnumber the grains of sand.”  God is constantly thinking of us, caring for us, loving us and relating to us.  His ways may be higher than ours and difficult for us to understand, but His love is also as grand.  Verity is being woven together in her mother’s womb by the master craftsman who will never forget her and whose thoughts are always for her.  

We would do well to remember the same is true for each of us.  We are in His loving care.  We are on His mind constantly.  He is the master craftsman at work in us, around us, through us and for us.  
Let’s pray…


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