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Kerry Lytle

February 17, 2024

Isaiah 64:8, New International Version

“Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”


It is easy to look at the abilities and successes of other people and want that for yourself. And assume that, because you do not have the talent you see in others, you have little to offer God and His kingdom. But the verse in Isaiah can help us to have a different perspective.

 

It compares God to a potter. A potter who can take a simple lump of clay and form it into a variety of different vessels according to his need. I am one of those lumps of clay that God has formed, and continues to shape, as He chooses. He did not give me the talents and skills I admire in many others. But I am what He wanted to make. And that is true for each of us. We all have a purpose and God molds and shapes us according to that purpose. 

 

God has created and shaped each of us according to His purpose, we are the work of the Potter’s hand. So, rather than wish we were something else, we should embrace how God has made us, and be that to the best of our ability. Ultimately, it’s not how talented we are that matters. It’s what we do with what He has given us.

 

In other words, we are not here by accident; we are here because God put us here. And He put us here for a reason–so we could come to know Him in a personal way, and then live the way He wants us to live. This is the greatest discovery you will ever make: You were created to know God, and to be His friend forever and to live out His purpose for your life. 

 

God not only has a general purpose for each of us, but He also has a specific plan for each of our lives. God knows all about you, and He has a plan for you. When He had each one of us on the potter’s wheel, He knew what kind of vessel we needed to be.

 

God is represented as the potter and all of humanity is represented as a common lump of clay, and out of this common lump of clay God chooses to make some to be vessels teaching, preaching, evangelists, prophets, etc. God is the Potter, the Maker, that He can do with the clay whatever He wants to do with it. And He is not accountable to the clay for how He chooses to fashion and make some to be certain vessels and others to be other vessels.

 

Our lives are the work of God’s hand. Our life is the work of God’s hand. Just like clay in the hand of a potter, He molds and makes, even breaks when necessary, refines, and shapes.

 

“God make me, mold me, shape me however you want.” We can pray that because of what Isaiah 64:8 says at the very beginning, “But now oh, Lord, you are our father.” He’s our Father, He’s a good Father, He’s a perfect Father, The perfect Father. So, we can trust Him. If we were clay in the hands of a potter that was not trustworthy, that was not good, that was not loving, that was not merciful, that would be a really bad thing.

 

But the good news of Isaiah 64:8 is that we are clay in the hands of a good Potter, a gracious Potter, a merciful Potter. A Father who loves us as His children and cares for us and shapes us according to His care for us.

 

So, let's pray, “We yield to you, we are just pray. God as clay You our potter, use us for noble purposes. Use us for the accomplishment of your will and the glory of your name. God help us not to waste our lives rebelling against Your hand at work in our lives. Help us to trust and follow You and in the process use us as a demonstration of Your grace, Your handiwork, for You glory. We pray, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

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