Things I Have Learned: Molding

Romans 9:20-25

Before I took my ambulance ride to the hospital, Michelle called a couple of pastors to come pray with me. I was so weak that I could not keep my eyes open. It took me three attempts to eat a bowl of chicken and dumplings because eating was exhausting. As they offered encouragement and prayer, I thought of the scripture that says we are clay in the potter's hands. I was reminded that the clay does not question what the potter is making it into. The only job of the clay is to surrender to the will of the potter and to be what it was created to be.

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But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”  Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?  What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,  and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,  even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.”

Romans 9:20-25

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Have you ever thought about how clay would feel if it could feel the potter's hands and instruments forming it? There are times when the touch is gentle and seems comforting. Then there are other times when the potter's finger really dig into the clay. Indentions are made, shape changes rapidly, and even chunks of clay can be removed as the clay is changed to the desired size and shape. If the clay had feeling, that would hurt. So, I have to wonder, why do we expect any different?

As God shapes our lives, there will be growing pains. There will also be times of comfort. Regardless, we should always look for the potter's hands on our lives. The fact that God always has His hands on His children should reassure us that He is doing a good work in us (Isaiah 41:13; Psalm 63:8). Our passage ends with "I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved". God wants to make something beautiful in our lives.

Most of us have probably heard Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose". Notice that it says "all things work together for good", and not that all things are good. This is where we mess up in our thinking. When something is uncomfortable, or even painful, we feel like God has abandoned us. We will say that Satan is attacking us. What if that hurt is actually God's fingers molding us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29).

As I look back on my journey thus far, and look ahead to what is to come, I prefer to think that God is making me more like Jesus. I don't want to simply think that I am under an attack of Satan. While that could be part of it, I have felt God's presence with me every step of the way. If He has been there (whether I felt it or not He is), why would I not trust that He is doing a good work in me? Philippians 1:6 says, "being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ". I have chosen to remind myself that, regardless of what I feel, I have these promises to rest upon.

Father, help me not to trust in feelings, but to rest on Your promises. You are working in my life to make me more like Jesus. Even when it hurts, help me remember that You are doing a good work in my life to make something beautiful from the clay.