The Potter and the Clay

written by: Belva Puckett

Remember the old invitation hymn: Have Thine own way, Lord; Have Thine Own way; Thou art the potter, I am the clay. Mold me and make me after Thy will; while I am waiting, yielded and still……………………

Holy Bible, New Living Translation Jeremiah 18
1The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2“Go down to the shop where clay pots and jars are made. I will speak to you while you are there.” 3So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. 4But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so the potter squashed the jar into a lump of clay and started again. 5Then the LORD gave me this message: 6“O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation Isaiah 45
9“Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘stop, you are doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be!’ 10How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father and mother, ‘Why was I born? Why did you make me this way?’”11This is what the LORD, the Creator and Holy One of Israel, says: “Do you question what I do? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?

Holy Bible, New Living Translation Isaiah 64
8And yet, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation Romans 9
20………………Who are you, a mere human being, to criticize God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who made it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22God has every right to exercise his judgment and his power…..

As Scripture repeatedly shows us, HE is the potter; we are the clay--He does the planning, molding, shaping, building, constructing, fashioning, forming, devising, the reworking; He makes the indentations, the marks, and places His stamp of identification on us.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation Eph. 4:30
30And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

We belong to HIM. We revolve around HIM. We follow HIS agenda. We have no personal rights--those were surrendered when we asked HIM to be our Savior and Lord. Because this is the way God designed it, and it is for our own good, we realize that we have one purpose after God saves us, and that is to become as much like Jesus as possible, and to bring others to know Him. That's it--in a nutshell!

Now this is where the rub comes. Making us like Jesus…………From the time we are saved until we die, we are in God's Pottery Class; He places circumstances and people in our path, and uses His Word and our time spent with Him in prayer to accomplish His will in us. We never know His best for us--the potential that He had in mind for us, if we don't do it HIS way.

A simple illustration of this principle involves a pliable clump of clay versus a clump of dried-out clay. The pliable clump can be shaped, molded and formed into whatever the one doing the shaping desires, whereas the dried-out clump isn't good for anything--it is hard, brittle and when an attempt is made to re-form it, it breaks into useless bits. That's a lot like us--as long as we stay pliable, by reading His Word daily, praying to Him, which involves listening as well as talking, dying to self--doing things His way, instead of ours, then we have spiritual potential. When we leave out those disciplines in our lives--we are useless to ourselves, others and God, and chaos results.

Few people have all the right ingredients in their background and few have always done it "RIGHT". That is why there is so much remolding, and remaking, throughout our lives; sometimes it can get uncomfortable and downright painful. All we need to do at those times, is to talk to God about it, and confess our misgivings and discomfort, admitting to Him that regardless, HE KNOWS AND DOES BEST! As we surrender and allow God to be the Potter He is designed to be, and we assume the role of the soft, pliable, and malleable clay---He can fashion us into the child of His dreams, the best we can ever hope to be. In so doing, we will not fail our loved ones, those who count on us, and most importantly, God Himself!