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In the Hands of the Potter, January 22
But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our
potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.
Isaiah 64:8
.
In His Word God compares Himself to a potter and His people to the
clay. His work is to mold and fashion them after His own similitude.
The lesson they are to learn is the lesson of submission. Self is not to
be made prominent. If due attention is given to the divine instruction, if
self is surrendered to the divine will, the hand of the Potter will produce a
shapely vessel.
The excellence of a genuine connection with Christ comes with obe-
dience to the words, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me....” The
worker who has this experience has an intense longing to know the full-
ness of the love that passes knowledge. His capacity to enjoy the love of
God constantly increases. Learning daily in the school of Christ he has a
constantly increasing capacity to grasp the meaning of the sublime truths
that are as far-reaching as eternity....
He realizes that he is material with which God is working, and that
he must be passive in the Master’s hands. Trials come to him, for unless
tested by trial and disappointment he would never know his lack of wisdom
and experience.
If he seeks the Lord with humility and trust, every trial will work for
his good. He may sometimes seem to fail, but his supposed failure to
reach the place where he hoped to stand may be God’s way of bringing
his advancement. He thinks that he has failed, but his supposed failure
means a better knowledge of himself and a firmer trust in God.... He may
make mistakes, but he learns not to repeat these mistakes. United with
Christ, the True Vine, he is enabled to bear fruit to the glory of God....
The Lord desires us to be meek and lowly and contrite, yet filled
with the assurance that comes from a knowledge of the will of God. He
“hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a
sound mind.... Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not
according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace ...” (
2
Timothy 1:7-9
).
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