Posted by
Streams School of Ministry, NH
I’ve often wondered at the enormity of God and His ultimate power to change and convict us in our hearts. He is a huge God. He has all the power and all the glory. He is the potter and we are the clay. He has the power to mold us and change us in whatever way He sees fit…because He is the potter, not us.
Can you imagine how deformed and hideous we would all look if we tried to mold ourselves?? We could say we were molding ourselves in His image, but we’ve had no training, no experience, and no tangible example to work from. How can we make anything from our own hands when our human minds cannot even comprehend His image or His character? He is just so much more qualified, and once you realize that, change will become easier and easier for you to let go of.
It’s hard to let go! Trust me, I know. I am a recovering control freak, and let me tell you it has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, just to let go of my own will to change. I always try to change those little things I don’t like about myself, and sometimes really big things. But it never works out. The Lord doesn’t want us to go digging through our character flaws, trying to find something to fix. He is the fixer. He is the potter.
Since when did we as Christians say that changing and growing is something we can induce out of our own power?
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. The world, and all who live in it; for He founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.” – Psalm 24:1-2
As His ultimate creation, we have no power to change anything about ourselves. Have you ever seen a painting reach out of it’s own canvas to add another splash of color where the painter didn’t intend it? Have you ever witnessed a pot of soup reach out of it’s liquidy depths to add another dash of salt? It would be insulting to the cook! And I’m an Italian who loves to cook…I know what it feels like when someone pours ketchup all over the alfredo sauce I worked so hard on to get all the flavors balanced just right.
Have you ever seen a clay pot reach out with its’ own arms and smooth out presumed blemishes left behind by the potter?
We cannot assume we have the right to change anything about ourselves, no matter how blemished or spotted we believe ourselves to be. It just isn’t our place.
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the Lord." - Jeremiah 17:5
For example, we as Christians tend to feel obligated to “prepare a sanctuary for our Lord” in our hearts…which usually ends up looking like “searching through our obviously human flesh to find each and every blemish so we can smooth it out and cover it up by the time the Creator runs and inspection.” However, this unnecessary fleshly exertion is not what He intended and if it were, we would all have the power to make ourselves perfect and He as God would no longer have Creator, beautifier, or perfector in His job description. If it were our job to make sure we were beautiful and spotless every single time He walked by we would never see His glory or feel His presence…or experience His grace.
So the next time you find yourself looking inward, excavating every bone and skeleton from the closet in the depths of your heart, look to the Creator…look to the one who longs to mold your heart till it’s tender and soft…look to the one who perfected every inch of you and created every cell in your body. He is the only one qualified for that job. He’s the only one who can create
true and irreversible change in our hearts.
We just can’t do it on our own.
A painful lesson I’ve barely scratched the surface of, believe me.
Maybe this post has left you wondering about your own efforts to change; maybe it just gave you a little needed perspective; maybe you knew all of this already but it was good to see someone else’s struggle to make you feel a bit less alone in your own growth process. If any of these described your feelings while reading this then I will be satisfied. I know that it helps me to see someone else’s story before reading my own…to understand that what my peers are going through is usually very similar to what I’m going through. It’s nice to feel like you’re surrounded by people who are dealing with the very same things…the task suddenly seems a lot less daunting.
So please, don’t think you are the muddiest or dirtiest lamb in the bunch…that is not the Lord’s heart for you. He think you are the greatest, whitest, most spotless lamb in the flock and He is ultimately pleased with you. You are His creation; His masterpiece. So submit to His grace and let yourself be changed by the power in His hands. He wants to be the one to do it…
-Jourdan Meyers, 1st Yr. Intern
"...can I not do with you as this potter?" says the Lord. "Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand..." - Jeremiah 18:6
"And yet, Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand." - Isaiah 64:8
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