Like Clay

"God loves the parts of me that are delicately beautiful but He doesn't want me to be fragile like that glass. God made me to be strong but He doesn't want me to get hard and unable to be molded like metal. He wants me like the clay, able to stand firm but still able to be molded and reformed into whatever purpose He has for me." ~ It's Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst, "Letting Go of What's Holding Me Back"

I think the perfect follow-up blog to the one last week, about being your own worst enemy, is one that discusses being moldable. Sure, you can be your own worst enemy, but you don't have to stay that way. There's always room for improvement. There's always the opportunity to be different. As long as you have breath in your lungs, you have a purpose, and there is hope. But change can't happen if you are the one in control.

Romans 9:20-21 says, "...O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, 'Why did you make me like this,' will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?" You can't be God. You're the creation, not the Creator. You're the result, not the Mastermind. Therefore, you have no right being in the driver's seat. You can try, but where are you going to go? Are you supposed to turn left or turn right or keep going straight? Who is supposed to travel with you, or are you supposed to travel alone? What's the ultimate destination? You don't know, do you? You'd like to THINK you know, but you don't truly know what's best for you, not the way God sees it. You aren't omniscient (all-knowing) like Him. So, why let major decisions fall into your hands? Why have that kind of pressure...and the consequences when you fail?

I totally get being in control, making your own plans, and moving forward as you see fit. Maybe pushing God aside is because of impatience or you don't like what God has in store or it scares you. These are few of the many downsides of being human, but, like I said before, you can change. You can be a person after God's own heart. You can approach this life with boldness and say with confidence, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength!" (Philippians 4:13). But you have to hand God the keys, permanently, and allow Him to mold you into the best possible person you can be. It's not going to be easy. Actually, sometimes, it's going to be plain rough and difficult. You may experience heartbreak, tears, doubt, anger, frustration, but God has a purpose for it all, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11). You will come out of the flattening, the designing, the spinning, the molding as the most beautiful you you could ever be, more beautiful than you ever thought possible, more than your wildest dreams.

God sees so much potential in you to become this amazing person, and He desires to make you into that person, but this is the same God who gave you free will to do as you choose. He might want to make you one way or change you into another, but you have the ability to say no. You can question God's ability or doubt His goodness. You can walk away, but do you REALLY want to do that? Do you REALLY want to give up everything that God has in store for you? Think about it... You don't know what you're missing!