Friday, October 12, 2012

In the Potter's hands

Isaiah 64:8  But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.

I often here this verse in the context of "God's still working on me." We are clay in the Potter's Hand.  He is shaping us and molding us, cleaning up the cracks, making us into what He designed us for.

Lately verb tenses have really caught my eye in reading scripture.  We ARE the clay.  We ARE the work of Your hand.  These are present tense.  Where I am now, cracks and all ARE the work of His Hand.  

Several scriptures quickly came to mind as I really thought about this:

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.

II Corinthians 12:10  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

And as I thought about these scriptures, I thought about how people share their testimony.  I realize that as much as I want to be "the perfect Christian,"  the testimony that draws others to Him, that compels  to grow deeper in  relationship, and that challenges to act is that of the cracked pot.

A perfect pot, even with a light in it, only spreads light in the one direction of its opening.  The cracked pot is the work of the Potter. In the Potter's hand, it spread light in the direction of the main opening, and light escapes in every crack.  

It is in the cracks of life I see the work of God.  It is in the weakness of man, that God's strength is shown.  It is in the hard times, that people are able to overcome that His purpose is made clear and His goodness is made known.  

So many times we are busy asking God to heal our cracks, to mend them and cover them so others do not see our weakness.  I am learning, that my cracks ARE the work of His hands.  I may have fashioned them, through my poor decisions and actions but He has put His touch on them.  He smoothed them over, so I could share light with others through that experience, what I learned, how He helped, how the victory was won.  I realize that the Bible has one perfect Man, and a bunch of cracked pots - they were our example.  God didn't try to cover the faults in the Story, His glory shined through their faults, made them people we could relate to centuries later.  He is writing our story now, will we be someone others can relate to, sharing our cracks, or just try to appear perfect.    

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