Not My Will...

          I am reminded of a book I read several years ago entitled: “Not my will” by Francena J. Arnold. It’s the story of a very strong-willed young woman who through a series of self-motivated decisions in her life faced various challenges and tragedies one of them being the death of her husband whom she loved dearly. After a series of divine interventions, she finally came to the place of total surrender to the God who had been trying to get her attention for many years. And, with that surrender, she reaped a joy and a peace that she thought would never be hers. 
          This brings me to the next step in the potter / clay process – shaping the clay. At this stage, the now clean piece of clay is ready for the potter’s wheel where it will be shaped into a worthwhile vessel. After reading the description of this part of the process I realize that it is not as easy as it seems. The potter has to make sure his hands are moistened just right or else the clay will refuse to be formed just the way he wants it. It seems to me at this stage that there is a lot of resistance taking place on the part of the clay as well and it reminds me of our relationship with God. God is doing His best to mold us and shape us into a useful vessel, but we keep resisting and trying to force our will, our desires into the process. I think sometimes that the Potter’s vision of what He wants us to be and our vision of what we want to be clash and because God is not one to force Himself on us, many times we get our way … but are we really happy with the end result? 
          Many years ago, I insisted on having my own way. I was happy, or so I thought, but I couldn’t shake that nagging depression that kept coming my way. When I finally realized and acknowledged that I had moved away from God and that that was responsible for my depression, it was not an easy road getting back to Him. But, like a true master Potter He found a way to get me back on that wheel. He took the broken, marred piece of clay that I was and began re-shaping me into something beautiful. Has the process been easy? NO! But the more I have surrendered to His will, the more I am becoming exactly the vessel He wants me to be. And that’s the wonderful thing about the potter, He takes the same piece of broken clay and shapes it into a beautiful vessel. Nothing is wasted by God. Nothing is too marred, too ugly, too broken that He can’t use. He has done it and is still doing it for me. Will you give Him a chance to do it for you too?
          “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 KJV)