The Potter Changes the Clay

Isaiah 64:8
8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

Check this familiar passage out from Jeremiah 18:1-4

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 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 seemed best to him. (emphasis mine)

One thing I struggle with the most is "feeling" forgiven. I can let condemnation really get to me even though I know where it is coming from. I will sometimes replay the past or just plain beat myself up wishing I could turn back the clock at times. As I sit here and share these verses I am reminded that the LORD, our Father, is the potter and we are the clay.

As I read these verses I am reminded that God can give any of us a fresh start. He can take our past, as marred as it may be, and form it into another pot, shaping it as it seems best to Him. Will we let our unbelief stand in the way of recklessly abandoning ourself to Him as He allows us to be reshaped in our loving Fathers hands? Will we persist in wallowing in how we don't "feel" forgiven and continue to self-loathe over our past? Or will we allow restoration, unfailing love, and forgiveness to color and shape our future? None of us are to far gone. We have got to believe that. We must remember that we all fall short of the glory of God and that we can not compare ourselves to flesh and blood when God is the standard. We are sanctified, restored, and given dignity only by His grace. We can't even allow others to dictate our forgiveness in Christ. We have got to go to the word and say "Lord who do you say I am in You?"

Last week this verse hit me like a ton of bricks:
Psalm 103:4 Amplified Bible
4Who redeems your life from the pit and corruption, Who beautifies, dignifies, and crowns you with loving-kindness and tender mercy; (emphasis mine)


To the Israelites the reference to pit signified Sheol (the grave or death). When we sew to the flesh we reap death and corruption, yet when we sew to the Spirit we reap life and peace. As believers in Christ we have that constant battle with our old nature. It does not go away and when we fall we can get back up and we can stand at the cross, bask in His grace, and allow Him to beautify, dignify, and crown us with loving-kindness and tender mercy. Our God is a God of constant redemption and restoration. No, we do not sin that grace may abound, but when we call to Him He will come for us and redeem our life from the pit. I love Him so.

Hosea 6:3
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."