Every morning I enjoy my coffee from a pottery mug, a plain hand-made item, a gift from a friend that I have used every day for years. It holds just the right amount of coffee, the grip fits my hand. It’s function matters most to me though when I think about it, I appreciate the the artistr, too! It is useful! Here’s the question that formed my thoughts this morning - Am I willing to be shaped, formed into someone who is useful to God, to others?
Many of the Scripture writers speak of us as being shaped like pottery by God’s hand.
Job, in the depths of his anguish, prays "Remember that you molded me like clay. " (Job 10:9, NIV)
Isaiah says " O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8, NIV)
Jeremiah is less comforting in his words. "But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel." (Jeremiah 18:4-6, NIV)
Paul writes of God’s purposes in shaping us. "Clay doesn’t talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, “Why did you shape me like this?” Isn’t it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans?” (Romans 9:20-21, The Message)
To become useful, we must submit ourselves to the shaping hand of the Master Potter, a process not always pleasant. Do you rejoice to be useful in the purposes of God? Do you choose joy in whatever He does in you and through, ready to be faithful to His purpose no matter where or what? Or do you complain about how God is shaping you, resisting His efforts to mold your life? I am certain of this - every one of us can be useful in the plans of God but not until He has formed us. A lump of potter’s clay has potential, but it is nothing until it is put on the wheel, squeezed, pressed, spun, and shaped.
Even when the object has taken shape it is not yet useful. There is a firing process. Under extreme heat, the clay hardens, not just dried, but changed by the fire! We, too, are generally not readily useful to God or others until we have experienced the ‘fire’ of life, faith brought to maturity through difficulty, character revealed by the inevitable moments of pain and/or uncertainty. That mug I use each morning would be worthless, crumbling to dust with the firing process but fire made it strong and beautiful.
The lie of our age is that we only find the highest joy in unrestricted self-expression. Our culture has substituted “I” for “we,” turning Self into the god we worship with fervor. The tragedy discovered too late is the emptiness of a life devoted to Self, to pleasure, to achievement, to reputation, even to service done for our own gratification. Solomon, near the end of his life which was an enviable one by many measures, mourns his mistaken focus on self-fulfilment - seeking great legacy, chasing unbridled pleasure, engaging in endless philosophy - with the famed words - "So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind." (Ecclesiastes 2:17, NIV) His chorus is “Vanity of vanities!”
What a contrast we find in Paul who gave himself to the
Potter, ready to be shaped and useful. At the end of his life he anticipates
God’s rich and eternal return on his investment - "I have fought
a good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now
the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the righteous
Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And the prize is not just
for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his glorious return."
(2 Timothy 4:7-8, NLT)
Let the Potter form you, dear friend, into someone who is useful, beautiful in your own way, not just because of who you appear to be, but because of the Spirit within! The word from the Word is worthy of our meditation today. I hope it speaks to you as it does to me, urging faith and surrender to the Potter’s hand. "For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us." (2 Corinthians 4:6-7, NIV)
(Video of this blog at this link)
_____________________________
Beautiful Lord,
Wonderful Savior,
I know for sure,
All of my days
Are held in Your hand,
Crafted into Your perfect plan.
I'm captured by Your holy calling,
Set me apart, I know You're drawing
Me to Yourself.
Lead me, Lord, I pray.
Take me! Mould me!
Use me! Fill me!
I give my life
To the Potter's hand.
Call me! Guide me!
Lead me! Walk beside me!
I give my life
To the Potter's hand.
Darlene Zschech
© 1997 Wondrous Worship (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
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