Trial By Fire

from www.PositiveChristianity.net

There was once a couple who traveled to England to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. While shopping in a beautiful antique store, they admired many antiques and pieces of pottery—especially teacups. Spotting an exceptional one, they asked, “May we see that? We’ve never seen a cup quite so beautiful.”

As the shopkeeper handed it to them, the teacup suddenly spoke:

“You don’t understand. I haven’t always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded me, and patted me over and over again. I yelled, ‘Don’t do that! I don’t like it! Leave me alone!’

“But he only smiled gently and said, ‘Not yet.’

“Then—WHAM!—I was placed on a spinning wheel. Suddenly I was spun around and around. ‘Stop it! I’m getting dizzy! I’m going to be sick!’ I screamed.

“But the master only nodded and said quietly, ‘Not yet.’

“He poked and prodded me and bent me out of shape to suit himself. Then he put me in the oven. I had never felt such heat. I yelled and pounded at the door, ‘Help! Get me out of here!’

“I could see him through the opening, and I read his lips as he shook his head side to side: ‘Not yet.’

“When I thought I couldn’t bear it another moment, the door opened. He carefully took me out and placed me on a shelf to cool. Oh, how good that felt! ‘This is much better,’ I thought. 

“But after I cooled, he picked me up and brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were terrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Please stop! Stop!’ I cried.

“He only shook his head and said, ‘Not yet.’

“Then suddenly he put me back into the oven—only this time it was twice as hot. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I was convinced I would never make it.

“Just then, the door opened. He took me out and placed me on the shelf again. I cooled and waited, wondering what he would do next. 

“Later, he handed me a mirror and said, ‘Look at yourself.’

“And I did. I said, ‘That’s not me. That couldn’t be me. It’s beautiful. I’m beautiful!’

“Quietly, he spoke: ‘I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know the spinning made you dizzy, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know the oven was hot, but if I hadn’t put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were unpleasant, but without them you would have no color. And if I hadn’t put you back in the second oven, you would not have lasted. Now you are finished. Now you are exactly what I had in mind when I first began.’”

The moral of the story is this:

The Creator knows exactly what is needed in each of our lives. This Higher Power is the Potter, and we are the clay. We are molded shaped, and exposed to just the right pressures at just the right times, so we may become what we were intended to be all along. 

So when life feels hard—when you are being pounded, spun, or pushed beyond what feels bearable; when your world seems out of control; when you feel like you’re in a fiery furnace of trials; when life just seems to “stink”—try this:

Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest teacup, sit quietly, remember this story, and then have a little talk with the Potter.

______________________________________ 

POSITIVE DAILY PRAYER: 

THANKFUL FOR DIVINE ORDER 

I am thankful that at any time during my day or night I can ask for Divine order.

I am thankful for balance in my mind, body and emotions. 

I am thankful for Divine order in my relationships with others that brings harmony with everyone I encounter. 

I give thanks for Divine order that is established in me and in all that concerns me.

I am thankful that there is a higher order than my order.

And so, it is.

POSITIVE DAILY AFFIRMATION:

I can do all things through the Power that strengthens me.

POSITIVE DAILY QUOTE: 

 "Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." Robert Louis Stevenson