This morning I was listening to my iPod on shuffle and the song “I Am Nothing” by Jeremy Camp came on. The first verse goes like this:
Seems I’m always in this place,
Where the things I seem to take,
Are the things I wish would fade
I always purpose in my heart,
Well to do things the right way,
Then I realize I’m still clay
And this piece that’s being shaped,
Will be a beauty You create
I love this verse because it reminds me that God is the potter and I am the clay. And He’s not done yet shaping and sculpting me. This is a good thing, because if how I am now was my finished state, I would be quite disappointed. But I do not need to be disappointed because God is still working on me, and “being confident of this, that he WHO began a good work in [me] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus “(Philippians 1:6), I know that someday I will be His masterpiece.
Are you feeling discouraged that you are not the person you think you should be, or that God wants you to be? Take heart – God’s not finished with you yet, either. You are still clay. But to be shaped by God you must stay moist and pliable. To do that, you must stay in His Word and in prayer. Without the Word of God and communication with God through prayer, we become dry and brittle. Although nothing is impossible for God, it is more difficult for Him to shape us as He wants if we are dry and brittle clay. And the shaping is more painful and parts break off.
The prophet Isaiah called out to God as He tried to shape the people of Israel:
7 No one calls on your name
or strives to lay hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us
and made us waste away because of our sins.
8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
We are all the work of your hand.
9 Do not be angry beyond measure, O LORD;
Do not remember our sins forever.
Oh, look upon us, we pray,
for we are all your people. Isaiah 64:7-9.
God does not remember the sins of His people forever. When we confess our sins and return to Him seeking His face and His Word, He gently moistens the clay and continues to shape us into the beautiful sculpture we are meant to be. I am thankful for that.