The potter and the clay

The house I stayed in in Nicaragua has a prayer room upstairs.  Some chairs, Bibles, books, stereo for praise and worship music.  Oh, and a replica of the arc of the covenant.  Theirs looked very similar to this one:



I went there most mornings to start my day in prayer and praise.  One morning a buddy, Claudio, was in there; I asked what he was reading and he took me to Jeremiah 18.


Verse 6, "“O house of Israel,can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."

I kept thinking about that throughout the remainder of my trip.  How so often I think that I am the potter -- making my own plans and an overall attitude of doing what I want to do.  I like being in control.  I like molding my life the way I want it it to be.  But sometimes I need to be reminded that rather than being the potter, I am the clay.  I have been created by Lord and I am His.  That might be frustrating once in a while, but I believe it is best.  


Then yesterday I read Isaiah 29.  Verse 16, "You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?"

How sweet it is to be reminded that I have a potter, forever molding me into the vessel he wants me to be.  When I forget, he reminds me.  I know that His hands have shaped me and changed me over the years.  I am exceedingly grateful that I am not the person I once was and I am increasingly excited about the person I am becoming.  How great is the love of the potter for his clay?!  How he delights in his creations?!