“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator.
Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying,
‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’
Does the pot exclaim,
‘How clumsy can you be?’”
Isaiah 45:9 (NLT)
I heard this in a sermon by Chuck Swindoll recently. It brought me great encouragement. I know it will encourage some of you, too.
When God Wants to Drill a Man
When God wants to drill a man,
And thrill a man,
And skill a man
When God wants to mold a man
To play the noblest part;
When He yearns with all His heart
To create so great and bold a man
That all the world shall be amazed,
Watch His methods, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects
Whom He royally elects!
How He hammers him and hurts him,
And with mighty blows converts him
Into trial shapes of clay which
Only God understands;
While his tortured heart is crying
And he lifts beseeching hands!
How He bends but never breaks
When his good He undertakes;
How He uses whom He chooses,
And which every purpose fuses him;
By every act induces him
To try His splendor out-
God knows what He’s about.
–Anonymous
Jesus, don’t let me be so ridiculous as to forget that I am only clay. You are the Potter and You do all things well, even when my heart is breaking and I cannot understand what You are doing. You are the Master. I am the servant. How easily I forget that and become so discouraged. Help me not to become bitter or fretful over what I don’t understand. Make me into someone You can use to bring Your Name glory.
How He hammers him and hurts him, And with mighty blows converts him Into trial shapes of clay which Only God understands;
Oh, yes. I am a "trial shape." I am not yet who I will be (praise God!), but how I yell at God when I don't understand my "trial" times.
Beth Moore wrote in her "Esther" study that "Sometimes providence can be defined as times when God trumps your perfectly good plan with one of His own… then seems to disappear from it. Take heart, Beloved! He's right there and He's there right.
I will trust in the Lord….