THE CLAY IN THE HAND OF THE POTTER.

 

It is becoming clearer to me that no matter from which angle we look at our relationship with God, there is no hiding place for man. It is unfortunate that not all humans know this. Some even believe that God does not see them!

"Jeremiah 18:4 NLT "But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over."

In this verse, the Potter did not throw that clay away to be replaced, rather he crushed it into a lump of clay and started over. This is love and suffering in a mixing bowl. The Potter must have fresh clay or unused clay and he could afford to do away with this one that did not turned out the way he had hoped. Why did he crush it to remould it again?

His thoughts towards us is indeed good.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11 NLT).

THIS IS LOVE. But the crushing is suffering, trials, pains that we need to endure so that God’s will becomes our will. Sometimes it is God denying us something like with Paul. "Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." (2 Cor. 12:8-9 NLT)

THIS IS TOUGH LOVE

Can a believer escape from this process? No.

God, Himself, said the person who is not put through this process is an illegitimate child ( Heb. 12:7-10)

WORD “To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd." (Ps. 18:25-26 NLT)

KBA Tracts