Puppet or Clay?

We read in Isaiah 64:8 but now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.

God is the potter and we are the clay. We are shaped and molded by our life’s experiences. The experiences God allows to occur in our lives that make us into the vessel He has created us to be.

Notice the use of the word allow. God doesn’t make things happen in our lives but He does allow things to occur. In Job chapter 1 we read the account of Satan walking to and fro in the earth. When God asks Satan if he has considered his servant Job he basically responds are you kidding me. Job doesn’t serve you for nothing. You’ve placed a hedge of protection around him, his household, and everything around him. You’ve blessed everything he touches and cause it to increase.

Well that same hedge of protection is also around you and me. Yes things touch our lives just as they did Jobs, but these things when we come through them, and yes we do come through them make us stronger, give us a testimony to help someone else and believe it or not work together for our good, because we love God and we are the called, according to his purpose as we read in Romans 8:28.

Oftentimes when we are in the midst of going through we don’t know how we will make it through yet alone how what we are going through could possibly work for our good.

Years before my mother passed I always thought if anything ever happened to her I would not survive. We were very close. We shopped together, had the same taste and enjoyed each other’s company. We talked to each other on the phone every day.

In The last few months before her death she was in and out of the hospital. My two sisters and I took turns caring for her. We were with her when she took her last breathe. One of the last things she asked was that we keep our family together. Little did any of us know what was soon to occur. Both my sisters and I now live in the same subdivision within walking distance of each other and are closer than we have ever been.

When we allow the things that occur in our lives to shape and mold us we become stronger. Contrariwise when we allow the things that occur in our lives to adversely affect us the enemy has us just where he wants us.

Have you ever seen a puppeteer skillfully manipulate his puppets? He pulls the strings and maneuvers the puppets as he chooses. Satan tries to do the same thing with us, but he can only do what you allow him to do. It’s up to you to choose how you react to what you encounter and experience in life, whether your reaction is spiritual or carnal.

It’s only human for your initial reaction to be carnal because you are reacting based on emotion. Once the emotion has passed your reaction should be spiritual as you recognize that in the flesh there is nothing you can do.

A carnal reaction enables the puppeteer, Satan to manipulate your emotions, prolonging your victory.    

We also read in Jeremiah 18:4 and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. The Potter is willing and able to reshape you, to smooth out the marred places, to remove the flaws…are you willing to let Him?

As we read in Galatians 5:16 this I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

Are you yielding to the puppeteer or to the Potter?