Okay, some play-doh type of clay is fun to mold and contort into weird objects. Otherwise, I am not real excited about playing around in clay.
There is the type of clay that comes to my mind from my Realtor days – bentonite. Selling homes in Pueblo required checking for bentonite because it was an absorbent swelling clay that could play havoc with foundations and houses settling. Clay was a “bad word” in my profession at that time.
So, I just have this natural response to the word “clay” of – “that’s an icky thing” meaning undesirable – for sure!
And the dictionary definition matches my reaction — offensive to the senses or sensibilities : bad bitter disagreeable displeasing distasteful harsh nasty rotten sour uncongenial unlovely unpalatable unpleasant unpleasing unsavory unwelcome wicked yucky yukky. (yes, I am quoting from the definition – they used “yucky” and so do I)
So, of course, my morning devotional on Jeremiah 18:6 which says we are to be like clay pulled me up short with my nose wrinkling up…
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. (Jeremiah 18:1-6)
Yep – when the Lord talks about “Israel”, he is pointing at me – oh, darn. I have learned that as a follower of Christ, I fall into Israel’s camp for all the biblical lessons, teachings and yes, the falling short stuff as well.
He called me “clay” – not a pretty picture to me. As Blackaby in his devotional describes it – “Clay has no aspirations of its own, no aspirations for service, nor reluctance to perform its given task. It is just clay. Moldable, pliable, totally submissive to the will of its master.”
Sound fun to you? …not me, either.
You see, I have a great plan, I know my strengths and I know exactly how I can best serve you, Lord! Aren’t you excited?
Ooops, nope. More ‘Israelite’ lessons here – God is not limited to working with my strengths – in fact, he often has demonstrated how mightily he has used someone’s weakness.
Truth be told, the only time I can find in scripture where the Lord listened to what the Israelites wanted, what they thought would be best, and really demanded, was when they wanted a king – you know, because all those other big-wig nations had kings.
Although the prophet Samuel fought against that idea telling them what a disaster it would be, the Lord told him to go ahead and give them a king as they demanded. He told Samuel that they were rejecting Him, the Lord, and not Samuel’s wisdom.
Ouch! I do not want to be in that position. Why not? Because just look at how disastrous the king system turned out to be for them! Reading the books of 1st & 2nd Samuel as well as 1st & 2nd Kings in scripture will enlighten us greatly on this point.
What does that bring to mind? Not clay, but “concrete”. Look at the definition –
- hard, strong construction material consisting of sand, conglomerate gravel, pebbles, broken stone, or slag in a mortar or cement matrix.
- a rigid mass formed by the coalescence of separate particles.
Get that? “rigid” “hard” and all my “I know what I want and how I want it” statements that fit right into the concrete definition.
So I have to come down to letting go of my “rigid” thoughts or ideas (first, just recognizing them) and realizing my view of my life and it’s circumstances being a certain way is going to just keep me frustrated when it does not fit the Lord’s way of working.
And if I don’t? Look at Jeremiah 18:10 where the Lord tells the prophet Jeremiah if Israel repents of its evil, then He will relent from the disaster that was planned, but “if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.”
Truly, I want the “good” He intends. Not the disaster stuff.
OK, I need to check out what the Lord says in scripture about being “clay”. Sigh.
God’s assignments demand humility (Micah 6:8) and I learn from scripture that He looks for someone He can fill with His Spirit, those who will allow Him to remove their impurities.
Thank you, Blackaby, for just spelling it out – “It is not a noble task, being clay.” Ain’t that the truth!
No glamour in it, nothing boast-worthy – but it is exactly what Almighty God is looking for: COMPLIANT, MOLDABLE, YIELDED CLAY.
I have to admit I need good visuals to help me through this walk on earth – and it will take work for me to get to admiring being “clay” and bust up and dispose of my “concrete” blocks to this vision.
As Blackaby makes this clear, I realize I will have to check my tendency to tell the Lord what I can and cannot do for Him – instead, I will need to submit to His agenda and allow Him to shape me into the person He wants me to be. Like clay.
Are you in the same boat? Hang with me – we will walk this road together!! It is only when we support and encourage each other that we can see that clay forming into something rather amazing as He works in our lives.
