The Potter

“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.”  So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.  But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.” Nehemiah 18:1-4

 

“Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.”  Isaiah 64:8

 

He is the Potter. We are the clay.

 

The Potter has a vision for what He is forming. He has a specific purpose in mind for the clay in His hands. It is His choice whether he turns the clay into something for “special purposes” or for “common use,” (Romans 9:21) both of which are important and essential. Who is the clay to question its Potter? The Potter knows best, and knows how the formed clay will be best used.

 

He is the Potter. We are the clay.

 

The Potter chooses how He will form the clay, whether through reshaping, pressure, or through fire. It is His choice. It is also His choice whether or not to break the clay back down into a soft lump, in order to reshape it for His purposes.

 

It’s that last thought that has been on my mind. It hadn’t really occurred to me, until my pastor spoke about it. When I would read the verses above, I would always think about God being the Potter, meaning that He is the One who formed me and the One who is shaping me into the person He wants me to be.

 And that is all true.

 However, I hadn’t thought about the fact that God, being my Potter, has the power and the right to break me down so that I can be remolded in to something of greater use in His Kingdom.

 Then I started thinking… have I ever prayed that? That God would break me down, to make me into whatever and whoever He has in mind?

 

Honestly, that’s a scary prayer to pray.
But I’m going to start praying it.

 

I remember playing with play-doh when I was younger. The best play-doh was the soft, moldable clay. I would always choose to play with that over the hardened playdoh. The soft clay was so much better and so much more useful.

 

That’s what I want to be. Soft, moldable clay. Able to be shaped into whatever my Potter wants. And if He needs to break me down to get me to be the soft clay, then so be it. I pray that I’ll be open to whatever my Potter wants to do in my life.

 

He is the Potter. I am the clay.

 

“Take me.
Mold me.
Use me.
Fill me.
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.
Call me.
Guide me.
Lead me.
Walk beside me.
I give my life to the Potter’s hand.”
                                    -Hillsong United