Shaping Clay

Somewhere in my secondary education I was working with clay in an art class.  I don't remember what I finally produced but I do remember starting over more than once.  What I began to make didn't look anything like what I had in mind.  So, I squished it between my fingers and began remolding.  I continued to repeat this process until I was satisfied with the outcome.

I have to say that my decision as to what to make of the clay and how I went about molding it into that shape was made without consulting the clay.  I did not attempt to make of the clay what the clay might have wanted but instead made of it what I wanted.  I, not the clay, determined it's shape and the use, which would be made of it.  Imagine, I, not the clay, determined all that.  Was I being unfair or heartless?  No, I was being a creator, who could do with the clay what he wished.

This is precisely how God, who is our Creator, works with us.  He determines how we are made and for what purpose we are made.  He determines our form and our function without consulting us because he is the Creator, for whom we are made to serve, not the other way around.  God is not our servant, he is not a cosmic bellhop in the sky, he is Creator.  It is his universe, his world and we are his creations made for and by his will.

This is not just an analogy that I'm using to illustrate a point, this is precisely what the Bible says about who we are and who God is: "But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this ?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?" (Rom 9:20-2).

Whether a lump of clay is molded into a bowl for foot-washing or a vase to hold beautiful flowers is totally up to the potter.  The clay's job is to yield to the potter's hands and be used according to the potter's will.  Instead of asking why God didn't make me smarter, taller, prettier, more affluent, what everer; we ought to be asking, "How can I serve God in the place he has put me with the skills and resources he has given me?"

The apostle Paul said, "I have learned to be content in any and every circumstance" (Phil 4:11) and Solomon wrote, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might" (Eccl 9:10).  Both of these God-inspired authors were speaking directly to the point of this blog: Be what God made you to be and serve how God designed you to serve rather than lament what others are or have.  Be content with the shape God has given you and serve well in the position he has given you.  Jus' Say'n.