BY DAWN REED

I was searching for a container, a vessel. A tiny fern needed a place to grow.

Every spring, my beloved showers me with flowers and plants to be potted on the front and back porches of the parsonage. They are a friendly welcome to family and friends.

Some of my favorites are red geraniums, white New Guinea impatiens, ivy and ferns. I pile red and white pillows and blankets on the glider and swing.

My flower pots aren’t the norm. On our back porch you will find sedum growing in a coal ash bucket, a large fern in an old pressure cooker, and geraniums in a used turkey fryer. There’s a bucket that goes back to the 1970s, our old corn cooker, and a Dutch oven my mom gave me years ago. They’re all filled with blooms and greenery. I guess you’d call me eclectic.

After all the spring flowers had been planted, my beloved brought home a tiny fern. He knew I would love it. It was so cute with little lacy fronds. But I had nothing to put it in.

I headed to my favorite antique store. I wasn’t looking for anything old, just some kind of vessel to grow an itty-bitty plant in. I pondered as I searched the shop. There were many treasures to be seen, but I was looking for the one that was just right. And I found it: a small red and white kettle. It might not have looked like much to anyone else, but I knew it was the vessel I needed.

Before Samson, before David, God was looking for a vessel He could use to deliver His people. Judges 6:6 tells us the Israelites were under the heavy, oppressive hand of the Midianites for seven years. They cried to the LORD for help. He chose Gideon.

Secretly threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the thieving Midianites, Gideon had not anticipated a heavenly visitor. The LORD said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand.” Gideon had questions and concerns. He answered, “But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Have you ever felt the same shock and awe when called by God for a certain task? I have. Me-a 60-year-old, gray-haired, Croc-wearing girl from Jerry Bottom? I, too, am the weakest in the clan. Yet, because of His unfailing love and His unending mercy, God has chosen you and me to serve Him in great and small ways. He gets lots of glory when He uses unlikelies. God did use the “weakest link” Gideon. You can read the true story in Judges 6-7.

God has a purpose and plan for each of us. We can be His vessel. He can grow a new work in us, using us to advance His kingdom. Are we willing to be used? Do we want to be used? The LORD’s promise to Gideon, “I will be with you…” still holds true for us today. My little fern started out so small. It has grown like crazy, nearly bursting out of the kettle I planted it in. When I was searching for the just right vessel, I was reminded that God is doing the same thing.