Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (Ro. 9:21)
Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (Ro. 9:21)
Man is but a vessel of clay in God’s hands; a container to be filled with His loving-kindness, a vessel of His mercy. If left untouched, the clay does not change; it will not become valuable. Change requires pain and pain requires faith and faith makes the believer valuable to God. Only the potter knows what he is making from the clay. The vessel takes shape as it yields to the potter’s hands, smashing, cutting, and trimming it; forming it into the purpose for which it was meant. God shapes man, pressing hard at his most tender place—his heart—stretching and forming His vessel—His container—to be filled with Himself. As God smashes, cuts, trims, and stretches His people, His living pots, faith rises as His vessel yields to Him, hope emerges out of darkness, and love replaces the hardened heart. Once formed, the water must be removed from the clay before going through the fire, permanently setting its shape. The water was essential while forming the container, but now the clay is formed, the water must be removed. Does the analogy break down here if water represents God’s Word? Surely, the Christian should never undergo a season separated from God’s Word!
When we look to Jesus, we recognize that He did endure a season separated from His Father when facing the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). We, too, must go through a dry season; a time of intense prayer with seemingly no answers, unable to penetrate heaven’s doors. We, too, must go to the cross, into the fire, into the darkness, into the abyss where the pain and suffering seem to be more than we can bare, the night longer than we can imagine. Praise God. The story doesn’t end there. Joy comes in the morning, Jesus rose from the grave, and the pot has become a valuable container. Jesus leads the way to heaven, the pot can be used as intended, and the believer is now ready to be filled with God.
Are you, God’s living pot, in the drying phase? Are you calling out to Him with seemingly no answer? God has absolute power to do what He pleases with the work of His hands! You are His vessel to be filled by Him. Today is the perfect day to pray, “Power, all power, surely is Thine! Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.”