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, love, availabilty and honesty in us so that we will not crack nor shatter when the enemy tests our faith. It should actually grow our patience when we endure trials.
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 so we start rebuking and cutting off what we think is an oppression. Before He can even use us He needs to change us into vessels that are whole. We need to be more sensitive to the Lord, and correctly discern the work of the Cross.
When the Holy Spirit is dealing with us He is first of all exposing hidden things within us that we do not want to confront. Childhood hurts, bruises on our hearts, rejection, broken relationships, anger issues, bitterness, racial problems, religious problems, these are all waiting inside us to be straightened out. By the Lord.
When He begins our reconstruction we go through what He gave in Jeremiah 1 v 10: "See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant."
He starts by rooting out, digging deep, in order to pull down strongholds of fear, pain, trouble, sorrow, and to destroy them. Then He can build us up into people who can be anointed to work for Him in whatever way He needs us. That's when He plants us in the place He has selected for us to flourish and be fruitful.
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. When He begins to cultivate and teach us its not an enemy attack.
Our Father loves us and arranges things around us so that we are prepared and equipped to handle the hurdles of life. Do not think that the 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, our 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. Paul counted everything he had gained in his life before His conversion, as dung. He threw out those gains so as to be open to the wonderful life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 2 v 20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Paul knew that worldly knowledge and experience, traditions, religious laws, feasts and rituals, hindered the pure life of the Holy Spirit. He did not hesitate to be free of the bondage of the world, to embrace the true liberty only found in Jesus Christ.
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.
