But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.

– Isaiah 64:8

The above verse has been on replay in my mind over the past few months as I pivot around in this season of uncertainty and change. When I say pivot, it really feels more like the spinning of a potter’s wheel. Just as I begin to feel that something is finished and ready to move forward, the next rotation comes too fast warping what was built up.  With each revolution of the wheel, I wonder if the lump of clay that has been spoiled within me can be remade.

This season has been filled with letting go along with the grieving and uncertainty that comes along with it. It is hard to move forward when something that has always been a part of you begins to change or has been smashed into shards of clay.  There is a longing for what has always been because that is what is known. It’s so precious! How can anything be better than this? But then, there is also the fear of moving forth because it’s filled with unknowns. What does that look like? Is it safe? It’s too hard! Just like that, I am a heap of clay stuck to the center of a potter’s wheel hinging any forward movement with each revolution. Recently, the still small voice within me said,

You should be asking what can I make from this heap of clay? And most importantly….Will you let me?

Did you catch that?! Will I let him shape and mold me in this new journey? Will I trust him? It’s easy to say, “Yes Lord, I trust you!” However the wheel comes to a grinding halt when I follow-up with, “Just show me what it looks like first.”  I imagine Jesus on the throne face palming his forehead at my unbelief! LOL! Thank you Jesus for your grace!

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make

Jeremiah 18:1-4

As I read in Jeremiah 18, I am reminded that not all things will remain the same. They will all endure the refiners fire in one way or another to shape and mold us for the Lord. It says in the study text for verses 5-6 that “only he sets the standards of perfection and can choose to destroy or reshape his work.”  In other words, we have to let go of things that once were and trust his will over our own. We can remain stuck, stubbornly following tradition, our own desires, thoughts and opinions or we can allow the Lord to take our hearts and mold them to what is pleasing to him. 

You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it,
“You did not make me”?
Can the pot say to the potter,
“You know nothing”?

Isaiah 29:16

The study text to the above verse says, “The Lords’ sovereignty is beyond challenge. Scripture does not discourage questions to God, but there is no place for resistance to his will. Such claims against God demonstrates a total unwillingness to recognize God’s intimate involvement with every aspect of a person’s life.”

IF I believe that I am God’s child and that he is involved in every aspect of my life, then letting go and letting God is essential to moving forth. Some things are meant to pass away while others are still needed to propel us forward. Whether it be in letting go of a loved one, the fear of the unknown, releasing forgiveness or acknowledging sin within me,  I must trust him to make all things new.  Now this does not mean the old cannot be intertwined with the newness he will bring. The Old and New Testament give evidence to that fact.  It just means that I recognize that I cannot grow into the shape of Christ on my own accord and am willing to surrender my heart to the shaping and molding of the potter’s hands.