Who's Forming The Clay?

God formed each one of us exactly how He wanted us to be, to do the things He wanted us to do, the way He wanted us to do them

The Silver Lining

I recently watched a message online which really made me think of how we like to take control of our lives, instead of letting God be completely in control. They were talking about the potter and the piece of clay he would use and likened it to God taking a piece of clay and forming man.

Imagine if whilst the potter was forming a beautiful plant pot the lump of clay suddenly said ‘’STOP!! I don’t want to be a plant pot, I want to be a plate, so I’ll take it from here thanks.’’ As ridiculous as that sounds it’s exactly what many, if not all of us, sometimes do.

Psalm 139:13-16 says ‘For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16  Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.’

God formed each one of us exactly how He wanted us to be, to do the things He wanted us to do, the way He wanted us to do them, and if we let Him then whilst we would still go through trials and tribulations, just as Jesus did, we would never be without the peace and joy of the Lord.

The problem is we often look at others and what they’re doing and decide that’s what we want to do, forgetting that just like the piece of clay the potter wanted to make into a beautiful plant pot we can’t decide we want to be a plate instead. 

What I mean is, we’re all made and wired differently to do different things and when we choose to do something we’re not wired for it all goes horribly wrong. For instance there would be no point in sitting in an armchair in the middle of the road and trying to drive it to the shops, not only would you look ridiculous but you wouldn’t get anywhere. An armchair is simply not designed to be driven in the same way a car isn’t designed to be put in your living room so you can watch the TV.

We all have different gifts and different callings, the trick is to learn what ours is by allowing God full control of our lives to mould us into what He wants us to be and then live in harmony with one another interlinking our giftings and working out how a body should work, all for the glory of God our creator. We are in a new covenant relationship with Jesus our Saviour, the old way has gone, our old life has gone, we are all new creations called to serve our master as bond servants of Christ. 

If we have come in to repentance then we are New Testament followers of Christ, His burden is light and His yoke is easy but we sometimes make it heavier by trying to go back in to Old Testament ways or do things our way instead of God’s, thus going back in to legalism instead living by grace and saying He’s got it wrong and we’ll take it from here thanks, and by the way I don’t want to be part of this body anymore because I want to be a hand not a foot.

Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 12:12-19 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be?

Capital Church

The late Pastor Connor, an American preacher often said ‘whoever informs you is the one who will form you.’ In other words if you watch the news 90% of your time it will form your opinions and your actions. So who are you allowing to inform you? God, His Word or the world? Because I’ll repeat; ‘Whoever informs you is the one who will form you.’

So, we need to be content with what and who we are and not try to remould ourselves or indeed let others try to mould us. God has moulded you into the person you are so let Him use you to be the person He wants you to be. Remember ‘you are fearfully and wonderfully made’ so use who you are to glorify who He is.

May your life reflect the glory of Jesus as you allow Him to use you for the purpose He created you.

Be blessed.

Author: Kevin Hunt

May God bless and enrich your life

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