When I thought I couldn't bear it
another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf,
and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much
better," I thought. But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and
painted me all over. The fumes were horrible.. "Oh, please, Stop it! Stop
it!" I cried. He only shook his head and said. "Not yet..." Then
suddenly he put me back into the oven. Only it was not like the first time.
This time it was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged... I
pleaded... I screamed...I cried... I was convinced I would never make it. I was
ready to give up and just then the door opened and he took me out and again
placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering
"What's he going to do to me next?" An hour 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!" -Source
Unknown.
The prophet Isaiah wrote this: “But now, O LORD, you are our Father; we are
the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
(Isaiah 64:8). What is the clear message of this depiction? The potter gives
his full attention working closely with a feeble, unpleasant, muddled lump of
clay. The potter is firmly focused with an expectation to alter that piece of
soiled clay into a piece of art – a masterpiece. Thus
when we allow God in our lives, we become a beautiful masterpiece in His hands.
It begins first with our identity: “Who are we in God’s sight?” “…we are the
clay…” (Psalms 138:8). Then, the next question to answer is this: “Who God must
be in our lives?“ He is “…our potter…” (Psalms 119:73). When these two
realities are fully embedded in us and after yielding our identity to God’s
identity, we become “…the work of His hand” (Psalms 100:3).
What biblical principles can we
learn from this depiction? (a) Aspire to become God’s best by becoming willing clay
in God’s hand in order to reveal His purpose in our lives and for others we
come in contact with (Ephesians 2:10); (b) Recognize God’s capability that God
is the Potter in our life and He must always have the final say-so (Isaiah 45:9);
(c) Treasure every touch of God that occurs in our lives in ALL circumstances
and that the interaction between God as the Potter and us as the clay creates a
dynamic and partnership for His work in our lives for His glory alone (Isaiah
43:10).
What’s the bottom-line? Never throw
your life away over a flaw, a mistake, or a sin. Never allow yourself to be
broken and remain that way. God can reshape you, heal you and put you back
together again.
It is not you who shape God; it is God that
shapes you.
If then you are the work of God, await the
hand of the Artist who does all things in due season.
Offer the Potter your heart, soft and
tractable, and keep the form in which
the Artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist, lest you grow hard
and lose
the imprint of the Potter’s
fingers. - Written by Irenaues from the 2nd
Century, “From God’s Hands”
Let’s talk again!
