Clay in the Potter's Hands

 I never intended to take a 9-month hiatus from blogging. Blogging has always been a helpful way for me to process what God has been teaching me and I enjoy blessing others through my writing. But there were many major events in the life of our family since April, as well as chaos within our country, so my quiet times with God felt, well....sacred. Yes God still taught and spoke many things to each of us, but I resonated with a fellow blogger that some of it just felt too personal to share online. Often, God's whisperings were just enough to get me through my day and there just wasn't time or strength for me to process them into words for others to read. 

Anyways, God really opened my eyes last evening during our family devotions from Keys for Kids. In it, the writer (Molly Matazel) introduced us to a young girl learning to basket weave with her grandma. All was going smoothly until the last reed. It wasn't bending very well and grandma noticed the reed was too dry. Once they replaced it with one that was soaking in the water, weaving went much easier. 

Are we not like that dry reed sometimes? Hard-hearted? Determined to do things our own way in our own timing? Are we dry from not immersing ourselves in God's Word? Are we unbendable in our opinions? Just like a basket weaver needs the reads to be bendable, God so desires our hearts to be humble and pliable in His hands. 

Jeremiah 18:1-6 says, "A message came to me from the Lord. He said, "Go down to the potter's house. I will give you my message there." So I went down to the potter's house. I saw him working at his wheel. His hands were shaping a pot out of clay. But he saw that something was wrong with it. So he formed it into another pot. He shaped it in the way that seemed best to him. Then the Lord's message came to me. He said, "People of Israel, I can do with you just as this potter does, " announces the Lord. "The clay is in the potter' s hand. And you are in my hand, people of Israel."

Can you picture that powerful image in your mind? God lovingly and carefully holding you in His hands. Or perhaps, the image of God holding our divided nation in His hands. Or maybe the image of God holding our sick and hurting world in His hands. There is nothing that we, the lump of clay, have to do or can do. We simply rest and trust the hand of the Potter. If you've ever witnessed an artist forming clay, you would notice that their hands use gentle and continuous pressure to form the pottery. God is the same way, gentle and persistent in forming us into the image He wants us to bear! He already sees the bigger picture and knows the Master Plan, so we are most definitely in the best of hands.

How are you letting God mold you in your actions, words, and the person He created you to be? Are you letting Him shape you? Or are you rigid in your plans for your life or expectations of life? Wouldn't this world be a better place if we were truly humble and open to what the Potter is designing for us? Is God making it clear that you need to change something in your life and are you being obedient? Remember if the clay or reed is too dry, the "lack of submission" will create a flaw in the finished product. I urge all of us to trust God to mold us into His image and likeness. 

This concept of trusting God is not new, it is woven through Scripture's tapestry: 

Noah chose to trust God in how and why to build an ark. (Genesis 6)

Moses chose to trust that God would guide him and the Israelites through the Red Sea. (Exodus 14)

The Israelites chose to trust that God would provide for their physical needs (Exodus 16)

The Israelites chose to trust God's method of battle to defeat Jericho. (Joshua 5)

Gideon chose to trust God to win the battle against the Midianites for him. (Judges 7)

Daniel chose to trust and follow God in the midst of government leaders who wanted to kill him in a lions' den. (Daniel 6)

Peter chose to trust Jesus when he walked on the water in the midst of a storm (Matthew 14)

If God was faithful in each of these stories (and many more!), will He not move mightily in our lives today if we step aside from our personal agendas and let Him?! Trust Him with the future. Trust Him in the unknowns. God is God and we are NOT!