Week 28
Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You are our potter; all of us are the work of Your hand.”
This is a trustworthy truism of life: The more we try to control and dictate the direction of our lives without the Lord, the greater the risk of absolute failure! But there is a contrasting corollary: The person who places his or her life in the Lord’s hands, trusts in Him, and seeks His way will find the path to be certain and secure.
The prophet Isaiah understood these things very well. During a time of repentance, the prophet declared, “We are the clay, and You are the potter; all of us are the work of Your hand.” This meant that Isaiah was yielding himself completely to the sovereign control of God, believing that God’s choice for Him would be best. As someone has wisely quipped, “God’s will is what I would choose if I knew everything that God knows.” How true this is! God’s ways are unerring and dependable.
Paul used the same analogy in Romans 9:20-21 where he writes, “The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did You make me like this, will it?’ Or does not the potter have the right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?” The answer is obvious; God has the right and the authority to do with us as He pleases. He does us no violation to exercise His divine right in such a fashion.
In fact, it may be noted that at the very heart of sin, all sin, is the assertion that God does not have the right over us; in sin, we usurp the authority over our own lives, and thus, we crash and burn! To fight against God’s sovereign ways is to kick against the Rock of Gibraltar; it will not be moved. We can no more change God’s authority over us than we can move a mountain from one place to another.
Rather, if we would desire to know the Lord’s favor, and if we would hope to enjoy God’s peace in our hearts, we must come to the realization that God’s will is best for us. We must surrender ourselves to the Lord, beseeching His guiding mercy in our lives. He never makes a mistake!
Christian friend, will you not this day seek the Lord’s will for you? Will you not trust yourself into His hands? His are strong and dependable hands, and His wisdom never errs or fails. Yield yourself to the Lord and follow Him.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I choose right now to yield my rights to You. I no longer desire to be self-determined and directed; rather, I want You to guide and lead me in the paths of Your righteousness. Take my life and point me in the direction You would like for me. Thank You. Amen.