The picture before us is a potter working with clay on the potter's wheel. The potter has a picture of what he wants to mold the clay into, but the clay doesn't cooperate. It is 'marred in the hand of the potter.' He could've just thrown the marred pottery into the trash heap, but instead, he makes it again, 'as seemed good to the potter to make it.' The clay didn't turn out like the potter wanted it, so he made it again at his own discretion. The clay doesn't get to choose; that's the potter's job.
Real clay doesn't talk back. It doesn't move wittingly out of the reach of the hands of the potter. We do. God asked Israel,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
We forget whose hand we are really in. We fight against the circumstances we find ourselves in, and we attempt to get ourselves out of our trials. We're refusing the hands of the potter, and as a result, we become 'marred.' The word mar means 'to injure; to deform; to disfigure.' We do ourselves, no justice, when we resist God's will for our lives. When we refuse to yield to the hands of God, we're hindering our progress in becoming what God wants us to be.
Stay on the wheel.
If there is any advice this morning, I'd love for you to take in is that. Stay on the wheel. Let God mold you in your trials. Don't run from God. Ask Jonah how that worked out. The best way we can praise God is by staying put. Allow God to continue molding you.
The Cathedrals wrote this song:
He Didn't Throw the Clay Away
Empty and broken, I came back to Him
A vessel unworthy, so scarred with sin.
But He did not despair...He started over again
And I bless the day, He didn't throw the clay away.
Over and over, He molds me and makes me,
Into His likeness, He fashions the clay.
A vessel of honor, I am today,
All because Jesus didn't throw the clay away.
He is the Potter...I am the clay
And molded in His image, He wants me to stay.
Oh, but when I stumble...
When I fall...
When my vessel breaks,
He just picks up those pieces,
He does not throw the clay away...
Over and over, He molds me and makes me,
Into His likeness, He fashions the clay.
A vessel of honor, I am today,
All because Jesus didn't throw the clay away.
A vessel of honor, I am today,
All because Jesus didn't throw the clay away.
Remember, Jesus doesn't throw the clay away, but we do that to ourselves when we get off the wheel. Don't give up. Your plans for this year are obviously wrecked. But God's plans are not.
Praising God by Staying Put
The picture before us is a potter working with clay on the potter's wheel. The potter has a picture of what he wants to mold the clay into, but the clay doesn't cooperate. It is 'marred in the hand of the potter.' He could've just thrown the marred pottery into the trash heap, but instead, he makes it again, 'as seemed good to the potter to make it.' The clay didn't turn out like the potter wanted it, so he made it again at his own discretion. The clay doesn't get to choose; that's the potter's job.
Real clay doesn't talk back. It doesn't move wittingly out of the reach of the hands of the potter. We do. God asked Israel,
Jeremiah 18:6
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
We forget whose hand we are really in. We fight against the circumstances we find ourselves in, and we attempt to get ourselves out of our trials. We're refusing the hands of the potter, and as a result, we become 'marred.' The word mar means 'to injure; to deform; to disfigure.' We do ourselves, no justice, when we resist God's will for our lives. When we refuse to yield to the hands of God, we're hindering our progress in becoming what God wants us to be.
Stay on the wheel.
If there is any advice this morning, I'd love for you to take in is that. Stay on the wheel. Let God mold you in your trials. Don't run from God. Ask Jonah how that worked out. The best way we can praise God is by staying put. Allow God to continue molding you.
The Cathedrals wrote this song:
He Didn't Throw the Clay Away
Empty and broken, I came back to Him
A vessel unworthy, so scarred with sin.
But He did not despair...He started over again
And I bless the day, He didn't throw the clay away.
Over and over, He molds me and makes me,
Into His likeness, He fashions the clay.
A vessel of honor, I am today,
All because Jesus didn't throw the clay away.
He is the Potter...I am the clay
And molded in His image, He wants me to stay.
Oh, but when I stumble...
When I fall...
When my vessel breaks,
He just picks up those pieces,
He does not throw the clay away...
Over and over, He molds me and makes me,
Into His likeness, He fashions the clay.
A vessel of honor, I am today,
All because Jesus didn't throw the clay away.
A vessel of honor, I am today,
All because Jesus didn't throw the clay away.
Remember, Jesus doesn't throw the clay away, but we do that to ourselves when we get off the wheel. Don't give up. Your plans for this year are obviously wrecked. But God's plans are not.