GOD'S WORKMANSHIP

But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.  (Isaiah 64:8 NKJV)

The potter’s trade is almost the oldest in the world, and its method has hardly differed through the ages. Jeremiah as well as Isaiah refers to it (Jeremiah 18;1-4). While the prophet was standing watching the potter, he saw him take a piece of moistened clay from the lump that lay beside him, and placing it on the wheel, he began to shape it after a design which was in his thought. As it approached completion, the clay collapsed under his hands, some part falling on the ground, and some on the wheel itself. To Jeremiah's surprise, the potter did not sweep the unwilling fragments away, but gathered them up, and made them again into another vessel. This is what God does still.

The master workman is our Father. "But now, O Lord, You are our Father." Some who read these words have themselves been parents. They have tasted the ecstasy of parenting, as the child has been laid for the first time in their arms. At that moment a new passion has arisen in the heart, and new resolves have compelled the soul. To shield, defend, educate, help, love, and teach to love, all this is included in that first embrace. The compulsion of the child's helplessness is a supreme motive to father or mother. Prayers are offered that find an echo in the heart of God, from whom they sprang.

Has God put these sentiments in human hearts, and has He not their original and pattern in Himself? For a moment don’t think of yourself as a child, but of God as your Father. Your spirit has come forth from the Father of spirits. You were called into existence by His word. You carry in your nature some thought or conception to which He desired to give expression. Is He not conscious therefore, of the responsibility to perfect that which concerns you? Of course you may thwart Him, as the clay was marred in the hand of the potter. You may take your journey into a far country and waste the precious formative years in selfish indulgence. But if you will let the great Father work out His full purpose in your training, your unfolding, and your prayer life specially, you will find with Isaiah, that eye hasn’t seen, nor ear heard such an one as our God, who works for him that waits for Him.

PRAYER

Mighty God, our Father, may we never doubt Your enduring mercy. May we not be frightened by the noise of the wheels in Thy great workshop. Enable us to believe that You are weaving the fair fabric of our life on the loom of daily circumstance. We beseech You to perfect that which concerns us.  In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

God's Daily Promise

Promise #146:
I will show you the mysteries of My kingdom.

Matthew 13:11 (WEB)
He answered them, “To you it is given to know
the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven,
but it is not given to them.