“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’” (Isaiah 45:9, NLT)
In a forum for bisexuals, transgenders, cross-dressers, and other folks, one person wrote in anguish, “Why did God make me this way? I should be a woman, but I was born a male. Just because I have an X and Y chromosome society forces its will upon me. They say I’m supposed to be a man. I do not have to be a man. I don’t feel like a man inside. In my heart of hearts, I’m not a man. I had surgery to correct this physical mistake in my body. Finally, people treat me like a woman. Finally, I feel like a woman, though I was not born this way.” This person is not alone in his/her understanding of God and gender. Many young people are going through gender dysphoria, where they do not associate with their gender and fight the genetic components they were born with. Many see their gender as a mistake. A good share of them blames God for this “mistake”.
You may not be aware, but the person in the story above who went through a sex change operation will have a terribly difficult life. He/she will have to go through many surgeries to “correct” things in the body. He/she will require hormones and other drugs for the rest of his/her life. There will be many complications. There may even be regrets for the consequences. Statistics show that people with gender dysphoria often become mentally ill. Too many commit suicide or end up on anti-depressants or mood altering drugs for life. The trans-gendered person above will have a difficult time being accepted in society, finding a job, keeping a job, and much more. Socially awkward situations and family arguments will erupt constantly over the lifestyle choices he/she has made.
It is not only transgenders or transsexuals or who believe they were “born wrong” or were a “mistake” of God. There are “furries”(people who enjoy dressing up like their favorite animals in public and private spaces) who feel the same way. Some of them believe they should have been born a dog or cat or another animal. People who were born with a genetic predisposition to alcoholism, addiction, stealing, pedophilia, or an inherited genetic defect sometimes blame God for their troubles. Many see God as the one who made the mistakes at conception.
Even you may have a tendency to blame God for your attitude, your looks, your weight, your wealth, or your heritage. You might go around with a chip on your shoulder because you didn’t inherit a lot of wealth, marry up, find love, or get A’s in school. Let’s be honest, its easy to blame God or others when the problem lies within yourself.
Decades ago, the United States Army made its slogan, “Be all you can be!”. People watched the Army commercials and dreamt of seeing the world and fighting for a righteous cause. The scripture for today, paints a different slogan for you to grasp onto. The scripture for today is essentially saying, “BE all God made you to be!”. Sadly, few people accept such a godly model. Too many want to play
God. They want to be in control of everything. They want to call all the shots. If they don’t want to be a man, they reserve the right to become a woman. If they don’t like how humans act, they want to be a furry. When they don’t like the situation, they fuss and fume and fight and complain. That is why there are so many videos of “Karen’s” complaining to the manager about treatment, photos of ideally proportioned women in makeup ads, and Facebook pages filled with people whose lives seem “perfect”.
In the scripture for today, the prophet Isaiah proclaims, “Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it?” (Isaiah 45:9). These questions imply that clay has no right to complain about its creator or its part in the creation. Once the clay takes shape, it will be used as the creator intended, serving a useful place in the world. In similar manner, you were created by God for a special purpose. Your entry into this world was never a “mistake”. Even Jesus saw people who were born with an illness and then healed as symbols of God’s glory (John 11:4, John 11:40, Acts 3:12-13).
There is an old adage that says, “Bloom where you are planted!”. This saying does not mean that a person should grow and bloom in another pot or another field. A person is “planted” in the perfect place by God. It is there that the person should bloom. This does not imply that a person should be content with mediocrity or waste his or her life away because of the situation. Instead, it urges all people to find reason to bloom like a beautiful flower; no matter where the soil or what the situation.
There is an old story of a poor man who hated getting the water for his home. Sadly, the water well was a good distance away, and his only bucket had a rotten base that leaked. Every day that the poor man got water, he would complain and complain about his “stupid bucket full of holes” that leaked all the way home. Then, one day, a beloved friend came to visit the poor man. When the friend walked in, the man was about to give an apology for his humble abode, his shabby clothing, and his lack of extra food. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the beloved friend smiled and exclaimed, “My, you’ve worked hard to make such a beautiful entrance up to your home!”
The poor man replied, “How is that, my friend?”
The beloved friend then explained, “Look at all the flowers that have grown up alongside the pathway to your house. It’s just beautiful. I only wish the path to my home were so beautiful!”
It was only in that moment that the poor man realized that his leaky bucket had watered the flowers all the way from the well to his home. And the flowers that bloomed along the watered path were rather beautiful!
Sometimes, we don’t see the beauty God has placed around us. We are quick to complain, jealous of the advantages of others, and overly concerned with our own inadequacies. Instead, we need to praise God for what we do have, take advantage of the beauty God has placed around us, and bloom where we are planted!
Since God did not make a mistake in sending you to this world at this exact time, how have you responded to God’s grace? Do you wish you were someone else? Are you jealous of another? Do you envy those with more wealth or natural talents? Will you complain to your Maker in Heaven about what you lack or instead praise God for all you might accomplish? Will you bloom where you are planted or try to correct what you see as God’s mistakes? “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator!” (Isaiah 45:9a!)
You may not be aware, but the person in the story above who went through a sex change operation will have a terribly difficult life. He/she will have to go through many surgeries to “correct” things in the body. He/she will require hormones and other drugs for the rest of his/her life. There will be many complications. There may even be regrets for the consequences. Statistics show that people with gender dysphoria often become mentally ill. Too many commit suicide or end up on anti-depressants or mood altering drugs for life. The trans-gendered person above will have a difficult time being accepted in society, finding a job, keeping a job, and much more. Socially awkward situations and family arguments will erupt constantly over the lifestyle choices he/she has made.
It is not only transgenders or transsexuals or who believe they were “born wrong” or were a “mistake” of God. There are “furries”(people who enjoy dressing up like their favorite animals in public and private spaces) who feel the same way. Some of them believe they should have been born a dog or cat or another animal. People who were born with a genetic predisposition to alcoholism, addiction, stealing, pedophilia, or an inherited genetic defect sometimes blame God for their troubles. Many see God as the one who made the mistakes at conception.
Even you may have a tendency to blame God for your attitude, your looks, your weight, your wealth, or your heritage. You might go around with a chip on your shoulder because you didn’t inherit a lot of wealth, marry up, find love, or get A’s in school. Let’s be honest, its easy to blame God or others when the problem lies within yourself.
Decades ago, the United States Army made its slogan, “Be all you can be!”. People watched the Army commercials and dreamt of seeing the world and fighting for a righteous cause. The scripture for today, paints a different slogan for you to grasp onto. The scripture for today is essentially saying, “BE all God made you to be!”. Sadly, few people accept such a godly model. Too many want to play
God. They want to be in control of everything. They want to call all the shots. If they don’t want to be a man, they reserve the right to become a woman. If they don’t like how humans act, they want to be a furry. When they don’t like the situation, they fuss and fume and fight and complain. That is why there are so many videos of “Karen’s” complaining to the manager about treatment, photos of ideally proportioned women in makeup ads, and Facebook pages filled with people whose lives seem “perfect”.
In the scripture for today, the prophet Isaiah proclaims, “Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it?” (Isaiah 45:9). These questions imply that clay has no right to complain about its creator or its part in the creation. Once the clay takes shape, it will be used as the creator intended, serving a useful place in the world. In similar manner, you were created by God for a special purpose. Your entry into this world was never a “mistake”. Even Jesus saw people who were born with an illness and then healed as symbols of God’s glory (John 11:4, John 11:40, Acts 3:12-13).
There is an old adage that says, “Bloom where you are planted!”. This saying does not mean that a person should grow and bloom in another pot or another field. A person is “planted” in the perfect place by God. It is there that the person should bloom. This does not imply that a person should be content with mediocrity or waste his or her life away because of the situation. Instead, it urges all people to find reason to bloom like a beautiful flower; no matter where the soil or what the situation.
There is an old story of a poor man who hated getting the water for his home. Sadly, the water well was a good distance away, and his only bucket had a rotten base that leaked. Every day that the poor man got water, he would complain and complain about his “stupid bucket full of holes” that leaked all the way home. Then, one day, a beloved friend came to visit the poor man. When the friend walked in, the man was about to give an apology for his humble abode, his shabby clothing, and his lack of extra food. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the beloved friend smiled and exclaimed, “My, you’ve worked hard to make such a beautiful entrance up to your home!”
The poor man replied, “How is that, my friend?”
The beloved friend then explained, “Look at all the flowers that have grown up alongside the pathway to your house. It’s just beautiful. I only wish the path to my home were so beautiful!”
It was only in that moment that the poor man realized that his leaky bucket had watered the flowers all the way from the well to his home. And the flowers that bloomed along the watered path were rather beautiful!
Sometimes, we don’t see the beauty God has placed around us. We are quick to complain, jealous of the advantages of others, and overly concerned with our own inadequacies. Instead, we need to praise God for what we do have, take advantage of the beauty God has placed around us, and bloom where we are planted!
Since God did not make a mistake in sending you to this world at this exact time, how have you responded to God’s grace? Do you wish you were someone else? Are you jealous of another? Do you envy those with more wealth or natural talents? Will you complain to your Maker in Heaven about what you lack or instead praise God for all you might accomplish? Will you bloom where you are planted or try to correct what you see as God’s mistakes? “What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator!” (Isaiah 45:9a!)