Like Clay in the Hand of the Potter

5/4/2004 - 6:00 PM PST

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By Fr. Jonas Abib
Founder Cancao Nova

In the Book of Jeremiah, Chapter 18, a word came to Jeremiah from the Lord. God told him to be off to the potter's house because there He would give Jeremiah His message. Jeremiah went there and saw the potter working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay, which he was making, turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased.

He did not use another lump of clay; he did not discard that clay. When he realized there was no way of mending that vase, he simply undid it and started a brand new object. It was even necessary to moisten the clay again, because it was becoming dry. Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are we in the Hand of God! (See Jeremiah 18, 1-6).

First of all, we need to go inside that mould God prepared for us. That means we need to be conformed to that shape and that way of being proper to the Lord, because we are His children and we are consecrated to Him. This is the reason why the Lord needs to purify our clay, taking out little pieces of gravel, clumps of sand and so on. If the clay is not pure and smooth, it will crack and break in the oven because it cannot stand the heat!

Perhaps you have been proud and you have been feeding your vanity. Perhaps you have even been a good preacher who can make people repent, be healed and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Although perhaps all the while you were more concerned with your musical instrument, your beautiful voice and your pride.

As a consequence, you have not been touched in your heart! Dry hard clay cannot be conformed to any new shape; it does not assimilate anything new! That is the reason why sometimes God needs to totally break us! He does not break us because He is mean; He breaks us for love. When that happens, we often rebel against God and the Church and begin questioning everything God had told us before. Though He had to break you, undo you and give you a brand new mould and shape! You will eventually realize that he broke you in good time! Blessed be God because He breaks us in good time, before our clay gets hopelessly hard and dry!

O Lord, break our disappointment and rebellion because we have not yet understood Your Ways!

Contact

Cancao Nova
http://www.cancaonova.net TX, US
Fr. Jonas Abib - Founder, 817 431-8512

Email

eua@cancaonova.com

Keywords

tribulation, repentance, Jeremiah, Potter

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