God and Oysters

I am amazed and grateful how God is able to redeem flawed people for His glory.  In the fable of Rumpelstiltskin, that conniving imp was able to spin straw into gold but God does infinitely greater still.  Even the most fantastic fantasies cannot measure up to the wisdom and power of God in saving lost sinners and making them children of God.  God's grace and power is revealed in our weakness, even our failings He redeems for practical good and eternal glory.

After preaching yesterday, God spoke to me as I sung songs of worship to Him.  I had concluded the message, but God had more to say to me.  In a lovely way He laid out some additional points I hadn't even considered during study - really good ones.  When Jesus fed the 5,000 to the full there were still leftovers, and it was true concerning the message preached yesterday.  I trust even as God was able to speak to my heart, He spoke to others as well despite my shortcomings.  Over lunch we discussed the sermon as a family and when called out on a point needed to admit I made an error in interpretation.  It was over a minor point, but even making small mistakes hits hard when you aim to do your best.  Praise the LORD, for even with word-fumbling, mis-reading, or poor interpretation, God is able to speak unhindered.  I love that!

It reminds me of an "Our Daily Bread" devotion I read years ago called "The Oyster Man" by Cindy Hess Kasper.  Here is a large portion of the 9 April 2008 entry by Kasper:

In the days of John Wesley, lay preachers with limited education would sometimes conduct the church services. One man used Luke 19:21 as his text: “Lord, I feared Thee, because Thou art an austere man” (KJV). Not knowing the word austere, he thought the text spoke of “an oyster man.”  He explained how a diver must grope in dark, freezing water to retrieve oysters. In his attempt, he cuts his hands on the sharp edges of the shells. After he obtains an oyster, he rises to the surface, clutching it “in his torn and bleeding hands.” The preacher added, “Christ descended from the glory of heaven into . . . sinful human society, in order to retrieve humans and bring them back up with Him to the glory of heaven. His torn and bleeding hands are a sign of the value He has placed on the object of His quest.” Afterward, 12 men received Christ. Later that night someone came to Wesley to complain about unschooled preachers who were too ignorant even to know the meaning of the texts they were preaching on. The Oxford-educated Wesley simply said, “Never mind. The Lord got a dozen oysters tonight.”

Praise the LORD how He can use anyone to be a useful part of His Body, the church.  The best efforts of our flesh fall short, but God is a Redeemer.  Jesus can take a meagre lunch for a boy and in His hands turn it into a feast for thousands!  There is more where that came from!