The Potter And The Clay

When I consider my life and what God has done in it to this point in time I have to consider where have I been and where am I going. God has placed in my path many obstacles and stumbling blocks. I had to face these issues and get past them. God knew that I could handle everyone of them and He was always there when I could take no more so I could lean on Him. I have learned many lessons in my life in molding me and my shape. God has placed good people in my life for me to learn lessons from, and for them to teach me what God wanted me to know at that time. When I was young God placed teachers and youth leaders that all contributed to both raising me into a man and also getting me to where I am today. The teaching of all those teachers and friends has put the ingredients into me that God wanted there. They have been used by the potter on the wheel to shape me.

I have made clay pots on a wheel before. You have the straight tool to make grooves. The loop to just take off the excess clay chunks. There is the sponge that is used to add more water when the clay gets a little dry. I am sure you can imagine God there at the spinning wheel with these tools and molding us into the object and shape that He desires.

Read Jeremiah 18-1-6

When I consider these first two verses of the chapter I have to consider what is God trying to tell me. What does it say about all our lives and what does it say about the church and the nation. There are a lot of different things to consider for just a couple of verses and it may seem a little much when we look at the big picture. God tells me that we must observe His appointments. God tells us where the appointment is and also when to go. God does not usually hold back to much information or try to conceal what He is telling us. The reason that the message is blocked is because what we have in our life sin is blocking the signal. When we are living the way God has for us and doing God’s will the message will be loud and clear. Another way God’s message can be blocked is if we do not want to hear. When we are living the right life and doing God’s will the message will be loud and clear. The message could also be misinterpreted. We could be thinking that God wants us to be in right field and we are off looking in left field.

Read: Hosea 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and have multiplied visions;

I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.

The message can sometimes get a little confusing. God makes the message clear to the person He is speaking. Let me explain this a little. If God is trying to get a carpenter to get the message then He will use terms that can be understood by a carpenter. I know that being in the military that we have a language all our own. We speak about our jobs to most civilians and the message and communication does not get through. God used this illustration and the potter to get the topic clear. Also to visually show the importance that God has total control as creator. We are truly the clay and the clay doesn’t tell the potter what shape or vessel it wants to be, NO the potter sees fit to create what he desires. When we allow God to do the same with us then we will be molded and designed into the vessel that God can use for His pleasure and for the work of the kingdom.

Read Isaiah 64:8

But now, O LORD,

You are our Father;

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all we are the work of Your hand

Read: Rom 9:21 does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

The Lord as creator is constantly making the world and the creation into the shape He desires. God makes us all in the vessels that he can use for the glory of the kingdom. Does this mean that all the vessels will be used for the same purpose? No, this would be a pretty boring world if all people were the same. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. God puts these all together and molds not only the individual but the church into the shape and vessel that can be used most efficiently. We so often think that our gifts are not important and that if we can not teach or preach or have some special or different talent that we can be of no use in the kingdom. God has made each individual to be that special vessel and He will determine where you fit and how you are to be used. This reminds of when I was recruiting teachers for the youth and I asked this one particular church member to be the 11-12th teacher. He was excited and told me he would pray about it. I was encouraged because God had placed this man in my path and also had been working on his heart to be ready for the challenge. The next week he came to me and said he would be teaching the 5-6th grade. Well I later discovered his wife convinced him to do this even though he knew that he didn’t belong in this teaching post; he did it because of pressure. We have to be very careful that when we make a decision to serve in ministry that we serve in the area that God puts us in and we do not just fill in a block because of things like pressure or even obligation. God can still use the obligated soul but He would rather use the vessel that was made for that purpose and function.