The Potter's Wheel..from a precious sis (thanks so much, dearest Soph..:p)

God is the Potter and we are the clay. Our Potter puts us on His wheel - a shapeless lump of dirt. When His Potter's wheel begins to spin, ofttimes we feel overwhelmed, confused and misdirected. We feel like we can't take it anymore and we're getting really dizzy with frustration.

Just when we think we can't take it anymore, His Hands descend. He presses, prods, squeezes His clay. It hurts, it aches, it stifles..but He gently but firmly shapes us to become what He wants us to be. We cry out, we cannot handle the pressure, we feel like we're going to collapse and break in a million pieces. We feel like we're going to crumble into oblivion, yet He continues to press and knead.

When we're finally shaped, the last stage takes us into the dreaded fiery furnace for the final refining. OUCH!! Whatever you're going through, submit to the Potter's shaping Hand. Acknowledge BUT put away our hearts' selfishness and wicked sins! Entrust them to the Lord and place them at the foot of His cross. May you be encouraged to press on towards greater faithfulness and obedience in your walk with God, irregardless of what man may think of you. We're accountable to God and God alone. Deny yourselves (even the pleasure of being look upon with man's favour), and honor our God and Him alone.

*~ Polished For A Destiny ~*

Not a single lump of pride
Is worthy of the potter's fire.
Every mark must coincide,
If perfection you acquire.

Thus He works on you every day,
That He might make His riches known,
By circumstances; forms the clay,
Till usefulness in it is shown.

This, your Maker, bids you be,
When shapened by His artful hand,
Polished for a destiny
Of service, labour, and demand.

~ H.E. Crane

But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand..

~ Isaiah 64:8