Clay in His Hands

Scripture: Jeremiah 18 v 4: 
"And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make it."

As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand says the Lord to Israel through the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah. The Lord desires to mould His people into the shape He desires for us, but often the clay is unyielding and difficult to work with.

It has to be thrown again and again onto the potter's wheel until it is workable, supple clay. Jesus is looking for commitment, obedience, availabilty and honesty in us so that we will not crack nor shatter when the enemy tests our faith.

How many times has the Lord sent us back onto the wheel to remould us closer to His heart's desire for us? Do we realise that everything in this life is measured to us to bring us into line with the Potter's plan for us. 

He wants to use us but as soon as we feel His hand on us we think we are being attacked by an enemy and we start rebuking and cutting off what we think is an oppression. We need to be more sensitive to the Lord, and correctly discern the work of the Cross. 

Our God knows how many hairs are on our heads and He knows where we fit in with His divine plan. We may not see what God sees or know too much about the bigger picture, but we can be more discerning about our place in the scheme of things.

Our Father loves us and arranges things around us so that we are prepared and equipped to handle the hurdles of life much like an Olympic athlete who is trained and ready to run at his best in his events. Do not think that Lord cannot change His mind about us. At a moment when He is about to throw us back on the wheel He suddenly feels our humility, readiness and willingness to change. He then makes something beautiful out of our lives.

Like the clay, we have no say in what the potter wants to make out of us. Our cleverness and worldly talents may not be of any use in His plans for us. We must be willing to sacrifice everything to gain His approval. 
1 Corinthians 1 v 26 - 29: "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:  That no flesh should glory in his presence."

Paul counted everything he had gained in his life as dung. He threw it out to be open to the wonderful life lived by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Heavenly Father we want to be a vessel meet for the Master's use. We pray that you see our submission to Your will and that we come forth from the proving fire with honour. We will no longer be afraid of Your hand upon us because we trust You with our lives. In Jesus' name. Amen.