Shape Me and Mold Me Lord: Part One

The Clay of God

 The Lord led me to study "clay" about four years ago. This post is the first in a series of three articles about the instruction that I received, and continue to receive, from studying the scriptures relating to the "clay of God" and how He, the potter, relates to us.

Isaiah 45:9

"Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, 'What are you making?' does your work say, 'He has no hands?'

Rebuked

I am prone to questioning everything around me. "Inquiring minds want to know" was my motto throughout my late teens and twenties. However, God told Isaiah exactly what our relationship is supposed to be. Complaints can be taken to God, but we have to trust him to take care of us. Personally, I do not care to experience anguish and tribulation because of my own behavior towards God. I have been rebuked through the scripture for speaking words of anger at God. I haven't forgotten the feeling of profound shock I felt as I read God's printed answer for my angry outburst. That internal sense of shock was quickly followed by a sinking feeling of dismay at how wrong I had been. Quarreling with my Maker, in anger, isn't something I care to repeat.

One Broken Splinter

Occasionally, I remind myself that I am just one grain of sand on the beach of humanity. God stated it a little more succinctly. A potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. One broken splinter among the other broken splinters. Our relationship with God comes out of brokenness. Adam and Eve broke the one command that God had given them and broke the perfect relationship that they enjoyed with God. Humans are questioners; Satan used that to plant doubt in the hearts of Adam and Eve. This verse reminds me of how broken my life was, and can be, when I only trust myself to run it.

Isaiah 64:8

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

A Scripture Prayer from Isaiah 64:8

Father, I am your creation. Take me into your hands. Shape me and mold me as you will. I am your vessel. You shaped me with your hands, for your purpose. May my life always reflect that I am your creation, and bring you glory.
Amen

Jeremiah  18:1-6

The Lord actually told Jeremiah to go to the potter's house to receive a message. Obediently, Jeremiah went to the potter's house. Then Jeremiah watched the potter working at the wheel, shaping a pot. When the pot was marred, or disfigured, the potter formed it into a different pot.

At that moment, God spoke of Israel to Jeremiah "...can I not do with you as the potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Reshaped

God will reshape us according to his will. If we are disfigured, damaged, scarred, or less than perfect, we can trust Him to reshape us. Everyone the Lord has called to himself has been less than perfect. I want the Lord to shape me into the vessel of his choice. I know it will be good. Submission to God's purpose is not a weakness, it is a strength. Depend on God to take up the broken potsherd of your life and trust him to shape it into a new shape.