pottery!

"Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so you are in My hand, O house of Israel."
(Jeremiah 18:6)

This analogy of God as the potter and us, His children, as the clay is something I have never really given much thought to prior to today. I guess it seems a simple concept. God shapes and molds us into what/who He wants us to be - into His image. He makes plans for us (before we are even born), places people in our lives to encourage us, presents us with struggles to draw us closer to Himself, etc., but in all this He has given us the 'freedom' to choose how to act - to choose whether to live in light of eternity or in light of 'the world', the choice to accept or reject that which He lays out before us...but clay - it is not given a choice. The potter does not ask the clay, "What do you want to be made into?" rather the potter simply acts according to what he thinks the clay might benefit from being and what purpose needs to be fulfilled & the clay simply allows itself to be worked upon...to have the imperfections smoothed out - to be conformed into the image the potter has in mind. It fights back with no resistance, but 'submits'. How much are you or I like the clay? - I know at times I find myself resistant, holding onto my imperfections, not allowing the potter to smooth them out in full...I see it as all coming back to the 'freedom' of choice. As believers though, the reality is that there should be no choice. What is there to think about really? There need not be an element of deciding which way to go, but to just simply follow Christ, to walk with Him, to abide in Him, to submit to and surrender ourselves unto Him. I know this is easier said than done, but yet it remains to be an unchanging Truth. We simply just need to let Him work, resting in the knowledge that as frustrating and difficult that the shaping and moulding might be at times and as unsatisfied as we may feel that God is sovereign and in this knows what He's doing - we just need to trust in His goodness because He IS good.