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Testimonies for the Church Volume 8
hands, saying, “Here am I; send me,” He accepts them for service.
But men must not hinder His plans by ambitious devisings. For years
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the Lord has had a controversy with His people because they have
followed their own judgment and have not relied on divine wisdom.
Let the workers take heed lest they get in the Lord’s way, hindering
the advancement of His work, thinking that their wisdom is sufficient
for the successful planning and carrying forward of the work. If they
do this, the Lord will correct their error. By His divine Spirit He
enlightens and trains His workers. He shapes His own providences to
carry forward His work according to His mind and will.
God’s Purpose for His Workers
If men will but humble themselves before God, if they will not
exalt their judgment as the all-controlling influence, if they will make
room for the Lord to plan and work, God will use the qualifications
He has given them in a way that will glorify His name. He will
purify His workers from all selfishness, cutting off the branches that
would entwine around undesirable objects, pruning the vine so that
it will produce fruit. God is the great Husbandman. He will make
everything in the lives of those who are laborers together with Christ
subservient to His great purpose of growth and fruit bearing. It is His
plan, by conforming His servants day by day to the image of Christ, by
making them partakers of the divine nature, to cause them to bear fruit
abundantly. He desires His people, through actual experience in the
truth of the gospel, to become true, solid, trustworthy, experimental
missionaries. He would have them show results far higher, holier, and
more definite than in our day have yet been revealed.
The potter takes the clay in his hands and molds and fashions it
according to his own will. He kneads it and works it. He tears it apart
and then presses it together. He wets it and then dries it. He lets it
lie for a while without touching it. When it is perfectly pliable, he
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continues the work of making of it a vessel. He forms it into shape
and on the wheel trims and polishes it. He dries it in the sun and bakes
it in the oven. Thus it becomes a vessel fit for use. So the great Master
Worker desires to mold and fashion us. And as the clay is in the hands
of the potter, so are we to be in His hands. We are not to try to do the