A Work Of Art

A Work of Art

Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!

Job 40:2, NIV

Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?”

Romans 9:20

I . . . found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. Then the LORD gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.”

Jeremiah 18:3-6

Have you ever seen an artist in the process of making a piece of art—maybe a drawing or a painting or a quilt? Or maybe you’ve watched a potter take a lump of wet, messy clay and put it on a potter’s wheel. The clay gets spun around while the potter shapes the clay with his or her hands and makes it into a bowl or plate or some other container. Throughout Scripture, God uses the picture of a potter making something out of clay to show us how he is shaping us into what he wants us to be.

How ridiculous would it be for the clay to tell the potter how it should be shaped and what it should be used for? Or how strange would it be for the canvas to tell the painter what to draw or the fabric to tell the tailor what to sew? That’s for the creator to decide! But sometimes we just don’t like how our Creator has made us, do we? We think, Why did God give me this body? Why didn’t he give me that ability? Why isn’t he using me that way? So we have to ask ourselves, Does God have the right to shape my life according to his own wise purposes, or not? Though we are tempted to resist, or at least to give him our input and opinion, our answer should be, “Yes! Potter, I give you this lump of clay called my life. Use whatever pressure is needed to shape me into something of great worth and beauty in your sight, something ready to display your glory!

DISCUSSION STARTERS

What’s the most impressive work of art you’ve seen? What made it so good?

A potter applies pressure to shape the clay. What pressures has God applied to your life to shape you into someone he can use?

Is being in God’s hands a safe place to be? How do you know?