The other day I was talking to a friend about the biblical image of God being the potter and us being the clay. He replied, “But I just feel like a big lump of clay that needs to be thrown back on the wheel and started over.” He meant it mostly in the negative sense.
But as I heard it I was encouraged. I said to him, “and this is a good thing!” Think of it. We serve a God who, rather than “fully baking” us and putting us on the shelf where we can fall off and shatter, he keeps us soft and moldable, if we’ll let him. He lovingly shapes and reshapes and remakes us over and over, in spite of our failures and faults. He doesn’t give up on us – but keeps “throwing us back on the potter’s wheel” when we need it.
This is the beauty of the passage from Isaiah chapter 64 where this imagery comes from. We hear echoes of it in Romans too. Listen:
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”
Then just a few lines later, the hope bursts forth:
“Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
Whatever you’re facing this week – keep your heart soft and humble. God is still working on you and though you may not always like his timing or his methods, He’s working with His very own loving hands to shape you. God is lovingly forming us and shaping us into a masterpiece of redeemed Kingdom living – both now and forever.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Joel
