"The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, "Arise and go down to the potter's house and there I will let you hear my words." So I went down to the potter's house and here he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel as seemed good to the potter to do." [Jer 18:1-4]
I read these verses this morning in my devotion. As I sought the Lord these verses spoke to my heart clearly. You and I are like lumps of clay. We may have our own intentions, plans, and dreams. The most important thing is that God has a purpose for people individually and as a nation. There are plans for you and me.
Even before we were born God had plans for us. He has purposes. He begins the process of sculpting to shape our lives into those purposes. It is God's sovereign right to mold us into whatever He wants. he does not have to ask our permission. He does not even have to ask if we will like the process of what it will take to get us to the end result. We often rebel. We often rebel and resist the pressure from God's hands in molding us.
We don't like the pressure. I know I don't. Yet, the pressure is what God uses to round this edge, to smooth that lump, and to shape us into the picture He has in mind. It is the picture that seems good to Him. We may not like it. Better yet, we might like the process of what God has to do in order to shape our lives to look like what seems good to him. It is possible to waste a whole life resisting God's pressure to mold us into His useful vessel.
We have two choices. We can resist. Many of us have and many more do. We can resist the pressure and rebel against the pain. Not just for a season but for all our days. We can argue and say the picture we have in mind looks better. We can even justify our resistance but it will do no good. This will only produce more pressure and more pain as God continues the molding process.
Our other choice is to relax and submit. As I prayed this morning I had a mental picture of myself kneeling before God as a lump of clay. Resting in His presence and submitted to His will I knelt in surrender. I pictured God purposefully, tenderly, but persistently applying the pressure needed to shape my life. It comforted me to know that I can take the pressure off myself trying mold my life into this or that. All I have to do is relax and submit to whatever God wants.
He can sculpt us into anything. He can orchestrate the circumstances of our lives to accomplish His purposes. He is at work. The pressure is not fun but there is a purpose in it. We may not see the finished result yet. God has a picture in mind of what our lives should look like and we need to submit and trust Him for the finished result.
How will you respond? Will you resist and rebel? Will you kneel and submit? God knows what He is doing. His picture is right. I urge you all to take the lump of your life and kneel before Him in submission giving into the purposeful pressure of God's hands. He knows what He is doing.
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