The Potter and the Clay

 Are You Workable Clay? 

 You are a precious creation of the Transcendent, the Almighty God.  His gift to you is found in your uniqueness and giftedness.  He has a plan to use you in his Kingdom just as you are.  The problem is that you reject his work in you and attempt to fix yourselves by creating elaborate masks that alter yourselves to match whatever flaws you perceive.  In this effort you pile layer and layer of deception on top of your authentic, created self.  In the process you bury the original you and live life in a pretense.  It is a tragic trade that leads to a dishonest life that is exhausting and illusionary.  You are not who you create yourself to be.  It is your creation.  Your authentic true self is simply buried between layers of your imagination and creation.  There is no substance or reality to those masks.  The fact that you trade your unique, beautiful, creative self for an illusion is beyond any reason.  Your creator, designer and the transcendent God of the universe made you to perfectly match the life and tasks that he designed in advance for you to do.  He built you from the ground up for a specific purpose and function.  You cannot improve on His design acting out of fear or in an effort to meet the expectations of others.  It the greatest loss of all to make this choice.  To reject your God given self on the Altar of Insecurity and Fear is a tragic transaction.  (Jer. 18:2-6,19:19,1,11/Rom. 9:21/Isaiah 29:16/Psalm 119:14)

 Submission

Jeremiah, Isaiah and Paul speak of the creation, or the clay speaking back to the potter and challenging their design.  Paul concludes his discussion with this comment, “Does not the potter have power over the clay…”   (Rom. 9:21 NKJV)  Paul reminds you that whatever you may dislike about yourself was decided by a sovereign God.  It is not a part of your role to decide if you are right or left handed.  It is not your decision whether you are a creative or an more intellectual.  Both are needed.  Paul points out that your role is to submit and not to rule.  The reality is that you are not in charge.  Like any human organization there is an appointed individual that is in charge and it is not you.  Each of the passages points out the insolence of challenging your maker.  God pronounces, “Woe to him who strives with his Maker!” (Isaiah 45:9).  Isaiah acknowledges, “We are the clay, and you our potter; and all we are is the work of your hand”. (Isaiah 64:8)  The best strategy is to submit and cooperate with your maker.  When in union with him you can have a journey of satisfaction.  You can live the life that God intended for you.  You can celebrate who you are and embrace all that you are. 

 

 

 (Jer. 18:2-6,19:19,1,11/Rom. 9:21/Isaiah 29:16/Psalm 119:14)

Destiny

The word destiny is a form of the word destination.  It challenges the idea that we live a purposeless, meandering, pointless existence.  It projects a life that is leading to somewhere specific.  To me the thought that in His kingdom that I have a destiny and am heading for a specific destination is comforting.  The devil would have me believe that this life was random and that I was a victim of the chaos of the events around me.  He would have me seek meaning, identity, and direction from schemes of my own making.  He knows my nature of needing answers to the big questions and tries to misdirect me from reality.  But I know that my destiny is found in my creator.

This is a comforting thought in the chaos of life.  Though there is a plan and destination, the way is not straight and will have difficulties.  I will struggle to make sense of things.  I will not comprehend all the twists and turns that are in the path of my journey.  This confidence in my creator gives me a sense of purpose even in difficult moments.  It gives me stamina when I feel like giving up.  It gives me faith when I begin to doubt.  It gives me perspective and direction when I get lost and lose my way.  God is faithful to remind us when we lose that sense of destiny when we begin to forget.

The phrase “be strong and courageous” is repeated to each of the patriarchs when God began to sense that they needed a reminder.  Your destiny will require the best of you.  It will require all of you.  It will require strength and courage.  It will test you.  By its very nature, it will demand that you put away your masks and work out of reality.  It will be based on your unique gifts and skills.  It is what you are created for.  That means no confusion of identity.  No rejection of yourself or your creator will be allowed.  How can you walk in your destiny if you reject the giver of that destiny and the very skills it will require.  It is not possible to be weak and remain faithful to your true identity.

Your destiny is also a form of promise.  When Satan tries to discourage you, it stands as a stake in the ground to remind you that he is lying and cannot be trusted.  Remember that his job is to “steal, kill and destroy…” (John 10:10), while God promises “life and life more abundant” (John 10:10).  When Satan speaks he deceives.  That is his “natural language (John 8:44).  Your destiny stands whether you feel it or not.  It remains in Him as His promise to you and your future.  It may not be visible at this moment.  It may not seem to be moving fast enough.  One of my profs in college used to say, “God’s clock keeps perfect time.”  He does know what he is doing even the way may seem chaotic.  His promise remains even though the way is not without obstacles.  The power of His promise shows up uniquely when the way is difficult.  When the way seems dark and the obstacles rise ahead of you remember, your destiny is intact.  Your creator and the one who made the promise are still working on your behalf.  He has not forgotten you.  Remember to hold tightly to His hand so he can lead you through.  He will not let you fall.

The False Self: Where did all this begin?

Because of man’s disobedience you and I not longer has fellowship with our Creator.  Adam and Eve’s rebellion the only accurate reflection of who you and I are is lost.  We are now alienated from the very source of self-knowledge that really matters.  We have surrendered to the whispers of condemnation and shame coming from the Devil himself.  It is in his vested interest to keep you from your destiny.  As long as you are wandering and uncertain you are no threat to him.  Our opinion of who we are is skewed by the negativity and lies of the enemy.  There is only one clarion voice that can clear up your confusion.  You have been invited into an intimate relationship with your creator.  You must return to the love and truth of that relationship to experience the journey of discovery with Him.  Until you do, you are held captive to the fear and uncertainty of life without Him. 

Your tendency to hide and create masks is a natural instinct.  It begins when we are infants.  Thomas Merton states, “to say I was born in sin is to say that I came into the world with a false self.  I was born with a mask.”  (Page 13) It is the essence of sin to reject God the creator and to rely on your own effort.  The great tragedy is that in doing so that you trade your authentic purpose and destiny that God intended for the small, limited, one dimensional life that Satan offers.  You surrender your potential based on your uniqueness and design for the mundane, illusionary lie that the enemy offers.  You abandon your role in the Kingdom of the Creator.  You abdicate the fulfillment and satisfaction of living into your design.  These vanish with this fateful choice. 

Again Thomas Merton clarifies this choice.  He states, “When we identify ourself as separate from God… the essence of the false self… we position ourselves ‘over against’ the created order.” (Page 14)  You choose to rebel against your very own unique design.  One strange thing that occurs in the process of creating a false self is that you are often blind to it.  (Page 14) You do not even know what you have lost. 

After the creation of a false persona it requires great energy to maintain it.  It is exhausting.  It becomes an all-consuming effort (Page 31).  It is only an elaborate facade to cover our emptiness.  It is no more real or authentic for all your effort.  Every sin you commit to prop up the illusion puts a greater distance between yourself and the amazing, unique true self that God designed your to be.

The process of creating a false self begins when you feel threatened or insecure about how you present yourself based on the perceived expectations of someone else.  In some cases these are from the past.  Those in authority over us can have an exaggerated impact.  For instance I carry certain expectations from my father that stay with me.  One of these was shined shoes.  He meticulously polished his shoes and you could see your reflection in them.  I still feel a tinge of guilt if I look down and see a pair of scuffed shoes. 

Becoming aware of this is the first step to allow you to begin to notice when you start the process.  

Do you ever feel the weariness of pretending?

Are you experiencing the love of an accepting heavenly father?

Are you snuggling with your creator?

Are you self aware and paying attention?

Merton quotes from New Seeds of Contemplation.

Man’s Dilema: The Loss of True Self

One of the struggles many face is the challenge to identify and to be true to themselves.  In some circles this is viewed as some new age quest or psychological rabbit trail.  In some cases it may be.  But it is also a valid spiritual question to answer. Our understanding of our identity is at the core of our effectiveness and our ability to .  It forms the foundation of what we can and will accomplish as we live out our journey of faith.  It will determine our approach and the depth of our relationship with Abba Father.  It will either be a barrier or a benefit to the development of your faith.  If you have an accurate sense of self based on God’s assessment you will be able accomplish the good works that God planned in advance for you to do.  If you have accepted the lies and insecurities of the deceiver and believed his assessment then you will be limited by those beliefs.  The sad reality that is reflected on by Thomas Merton is that most people live their whole lives without ever finding what he refers to as our True Self.  A majority reject God’s plan and are trapped in the chains of performance and pressure to be someone that they were never created to be. 

Because of sin, man no longer walks in union with his creator.  Man’s rebellion has set him against the one that he needs the most.  It has set up a barrier between man and the one that knows us the best.  Only until we can reunite and reestablish relationship will we find the answers that we need to begin the journey back to ourselves.  Only when we surrender ourselves to our creator can we find the answers of our unique creation.  He is ready, willing and able to reveal what he is calling us to and who we are.  He is able to lift us from our own wisdom to his.  He will give insight as we get glimpses of ourselves throughout different episodes of our journey. 

It takes courage to face who we really are.  While it is a journey of self-discovery it is also a time to discover of limitations and areas that are not strengths.  It does not take away our strengths, but all strengths have incumbent weaknesses.  It only means that we must be students of ourselves.  Being self-aware allows us to know who we are, what our strengths are, and our short comings.  We all have them and this is part of being human.  But if we are too dependent the approval of others we may be tempted to try to deny this reality.  This is where the courage comes in.  Are we willing to accept the self that God created us to be rather than succumb to the demands of all the voices around us.  As stated earlier most comply with the voices and never accept the beauty of God’s work in themselves.  They never experience the joy of fulfilment that flows from using their God given talents and skills.  They never rest in themselves but rather continue to strive to perform to meet the expectations of others.  This in itself is a rejection of God and his plan. 

Your Mission: (Should you choose to accept it...  LOL) is to begin a journey toward the one who made you and really snuggle in and to begin to see yourself as you are, as he sees you!