June 27, 2016 WE ARE THE CLAY
Isaiah 64:8: “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
This short verse contains two truths that are paramount to living life as God designed. The first, most basic truth that must become real not only in our mind, but in our spirit as well, is that God is our Father. I lived many years as a Christian knowing in my mind that God was my Father, but one day, God revealed this great truth in my spirit and coming to know God as Father had a major impact on my life. Without going into detail, I can summarize it this way: if the creator God, the God who spoke the universe into existence, is my Father, what have I to fear or worry about? Nothing. God desires that our trust be totally in Him-to trust Him for every detail-knowing that He is a good Father. Dudley Hall recently made the point that we should not trust God for this or that, but that we should trust in God and who He is; a God who loves us and gives good gifts to His children. There is no greater freedom than that of knowing God as Father. Hand in hand with knowing God as Father, is realizing and acknowledging that we are the clay and that He is the potter. Before the potter begins to fashion a piece of pottery, he first has a picture in mind of what he wants to create or form. Likewise, God has a purpose, or a use, for each of us and He is about forming us into the vessel that He has in mind. It’s a giant spiritual step forward when we confess, when we acknowledge, that we are the clay-not the potter! Acknowledging that we are the clay is where trust comes into the picture because of man’s nature or tendency to “take charge” or to determine his own destiny. One may think that being clay is to be out of control, and that’s true, however, when one humbles himself and acknowledge that it is God who is in control of his life, he finds life to the fullest. The issue of who controls our life is where the battle takes place. Isaiah 45:9 says: “Woe to those who quarrel with their maker,…..Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’” Only by knowing in our innermost being that God is our Father and that He is a good Father who has all power, and who loves us unconditionally, can we gladly acknowledge that we are the clay. There could be nothing greater for man than knowing God as Father. I would encourage each of us to continually remind ourselves and to acknowledge that we are blessed to be the clay in the hands of the Potter who loves us and who is forming us into a vessel for His use.
Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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