Graceline: I need Him, and He kneads me

“Shall what is formed say to Him Who formed it, ‘He did not make me?’ Can the pot say of the potter, ‘He knows nothing?” Isaiah 29:16

I was stricken recently with the realization I have tried to make God my servant while I become the master. It happened so subtly I didn’t even notice it. It was my prayer life that brought it to my attention. When I would come to the Lord in prayer, I would say things like “Lord, so-and-so needs you to do this for them,” or “Lord, help John get well,” or “Change so-and-so’s heart.” I was constantly asking God to do things I felt like needed to be done.

Then I read Jeremiah 18. “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as it seemed best to him.” (Jeremiah 18:3-4, emphasis mine)

God showed me several things in that passage.

▪ The clay was marred. The fault was in the clay, not the potter.

▪ The potter didn’t give up on the clay.

▪ The clay required kneading to make it pliable enough to be easily formed into the vessel the master desired.

▪ The clay was marred if it was not on the center of the potter’s wheel.

▪ The potter had to squeeze the clay in order to fashion into the shape that pleased him.

Remember the song that said, “You are the potter. I am the clay.” We need to keep that song in mind when God begins to squeeze and knead us. We don’t particularly like to be mashed, squashed, and pressed upon, but that is exactly what we knead (pun intended) if we are to be His vessels for His glory. We have lumps and imperfections that must be smoothed out even before the potter places us on the wheel.

If the potter finds a piece of clay that resists his kneading, He will throw it back in the bin and get another hunk of clay. I don’t know about you, but I had rather be mashed and pressed than spend my days in the bottom of a dark waste bin in the potter’s shop.

You may be asking, “I thought the potter didn’t give up on the clay.” You are right. I did say that. But he doesn’t give up on it after it gets to the wheel. Some clay is so hard and unmanageable that it never gets to the wheel because it will not humble itself and ask God to put it back on the wheel. The reason that God said that David was a man after His own heart was that David was moldable and teachable. When confronted with the error of his way, David would admit his wrong and put himself back into the master’s hand.

Are we like that? Do we love and trust God so completely that we will allow Him to mash out our lumps no matter how uncomfortable that may be? Are we willing to stay in the smack-dab center of His wheel (or will) so that we won’t be marred in His hand? Are we willing to allow Him to make us into a vessel of His choosing, not ours?

We need Him. He kneads us. Stay in the center of His wheel.

This story was originally published February 14, 2016 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Graceline: I need Him, and He kneads me."