Rejoicing In The Word For Ladies – Get in Shape, Part 1 (March 2026)
“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” Jer. 18:4. The Heavenly Potter molds each of us for His purpose. When I became a new creature in Christ, an immediate kind of metamorphosis took place – a miraculous spiritual change, determined by heavenly means (2 Cor. 5:17). But there is an ongoing transformation, a much slower shaping process, that the Potter has in mind as well. He is remaking me (and you) into His image. The question is: What kind of shape are you in?
Job spoke to the Lord as a simple vessel in his hands in chapter 10:8-9, “Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?” It is a humbling moment to recognize ourselves as the lump of clay in this vivid word picture.
The first step in the process is admitting the Potter’s authority: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Rom. 9:20-21. There is a phrase in the book of 1 Samuel that sticks out to me. Eli responds to the message of God’s hand of judgment by saying, “It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good.” Surrender is essential to the sanctification process.
We can be thankful for the Divine Hand because we are being transformed with purpose: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” Eph. 2:10. The Lord desires to “make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ…” Heb. 13:21. Some artists create as they go, so to speak. Perhaps they allow the steps of the process to determine the outcome. Or they’ll speak of the artwork itself as an animate object, “It will tell me what it wants to be.” But not our Creator! He is not working out some curious experiment. The Potter has a plan; He has a useful vessel in mind.
In keeping with His purpose, God is laboring with us daily. He is not a dispassionate, far-off Maker, Who set the world in motion and left His creation to sort things out from there. Can you imagine the potter throwing the clay on the wheel, giving it a spin, and walking away? There is not a day that God fails to work in our lives. “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” Lam. 3:22-23. He is continually shaping our character and calling us to holiness: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” Rom. 12:1.
What a source of comfort to be loved and designed by the hands of our faithful Creator. (V.K.S.)