Lord I am your vessel….

Has God ever asked you to do something that is so far out of your comfort zone, so far out of something that you know you could ever do on your own strength. I know He has.. because well.. that’s the Christian life. Have you ever found yourself saying, “Lord I am your willing vessel, BUT…”…. I know I have. I wonder if you are in the same company with me in saying that.
This weekend I had the blessing of serving on an Emmaus walk, a non-denominational retreat. The Emmaus family has become like my family. I have learned so much about the unconditional love of God from them. The emmaus weekends have always proved lifechanging for me. This weekend God called me to serve on the Emmaus walk in a position that is NOT me.. I was supposed to lead a group of ladies to do all the behind the scenes details that go on @ the walk.
Lord I am your willing vessel.. BUT… this is so out of my comfort zone. I want to be the one scrubbing the toilets, not the one making sure that they ARE scrubbed.. I want to be the one setting the table, not asking you to set the table. BUT God I am your willing vessel…..

So I said yes to this leadership role which would involve many details.. ( I am NOT a detail person… I don’t like a plan.. I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl) being organized (yeah I am organized.. HAH! you could take one look @ my bookshelf, or my car, or anything else and know that I am not!) and leading (I would rather be serving). But Lord I am your willing vessel.

Those words are key– we can say them.. but we have to mean them. Pour yourself in God and pour me out. and I did.. and I watched the most beautiful portrayal of the body of Christ. I had the MOST amazing ladies working with me, along side of me.. it was awesome. I learned something HUGE. I had always read the passage in 1 corinthians 12:12 about how we are one body, and in verse 14 how the body does not consist of one member but many… each with different parts. What I did not realize is that often i want to be the whole body- I want to be super Jenn and do it all. This weekend I could not do this. I just had to be His willing vessel… and God humbled me and reminded me how beautiful he had made the body of christ. Being his vessel means only pouring out where He has created you to (even though sometimes that is far out of your comfort zone) .. and then watching the other parts of His beautiful body work together perfectly.

God created Darlene to be amazing @ keeping the book table organized and getting the money. I could NOT have done that ( tried one time.. it was a disaster) . God created Amber and Britanny to drive that golf cart and keep us on task. God created peggy and jenny paul to work hard as HIs hands to set the dining room table just right.. God created Britany and Lorra to make the cabins a homey and perfect place to be.. God created Vicky and Beth to keep the conference room running.. God created Cindi and Britany and Janna to set the stage for chapel beautifully..meagan and amy to organize al the little beautiful behind the scenes things to make the people on the retreat feel loved.. the list could go on and on.. and His body worked together beautifully. What if I had said.. well I don’t like being the toe.. I need to be the finger and robbed the toe of the joy of doing what it was created to be. I know I have so often done that in life. How bout you?

What if we just said Lord I am your vessel.. and added no BUT!..