Penned By: Erlinda Mejia Olson
On Thursday, 26th of January, 2012 at 23:14PM CST
Posted on Friday, 20th of November, 2020 at 8:15AM CST
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."
How far are you willing to be changed, to be molded, to be transformed by God—who knows you inside and out. Be carved by His powerful hands through the very chisel, His Son Jesus Christ.
This story I am sharing with you shows a glimpse of how and what it is like to be whittled by the mighty hands of our Almighty God. I know it is not always a pretty picture to undergo God's chastening, to submit to His discipline, to endure His training, to pass His "boot camp", but I have learned not to resist Him, and just trust in Him no matter what my predicaments are.
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| 💗 Song: God's Way Is The Best Way 💗 |
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful store. This was their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially tea-cups. They said, "May we see that? We have never seen one quite so exquisite."As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the tea-cup spoke, "You don't understand." It said, "I have not always been a tea-cup. There was a time when I was just red clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over and I yelled out! Let me alone!" but he only smiled, "Not yet."Then I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. "Stop it! I’m getting dizzy!" I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, "Not yet."Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, "Not yet."Finally, the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Stop it! Stop it!" I cried. He only nodded, "Not yet."Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This time it was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf.An hour later he handed me a mirror and said "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That is not me; that could not be me. It's divine."I want you to remember, he said, "I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I just had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurts and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I had not put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I had not done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life, and if I had not put you back in that second oven, you would not survive for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you."
Our Heavenly Father knows what He is doing. The Bible tells us, God is the potter and we are the clay (Isaiah 64:8). He will mold us and carve us—so we may be conformed according to the image of His Perfect Son, the LORD Jesus Christ. To make us into a unsullied piece of work, equipped to fulfill His perfect will, for His good pleasure, and for our own good.
"For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well." (Psalm 139:13-14)
"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.' (Romans 8:28)
"Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." (Romans 8:30)
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)
