The Clay
One Year Bible (Sep. 24)
Isaiah 43:14-45:10
THE CLAY
“Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’ How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way’?” (45:9-10)
I have a beautiful new enameled cast iron dutch oven from the Hearth & Hand Magnolia Home Collection. It is the new off-white color and is seriously too beautiful to cook with. (That is my excuse anyway, and I am going to use that for a while until it is time for some fall stew!) It is safe for cooking for up to 500 degrees. My new dutch oven is a POT, a lovely POT!
I clean out another “POT” on Saturdays if you know what I mean. In fact, we have three “such pots” in our home that people use for “bathroom purposes” all week long. Cleaning out these “so-called pots” is one of my least favorite jobs in the world!
I don’t know about you but I want to be considered a “Swanky Pot” not the other variety!
Today’s passage brings up an important question and an insight into how God, the Potter creates and uses POTS…
The controversy begins in Isaiah 45:1, “This is what the LORD says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower.”
What’s the big deal with this verse you may wonder. Well, Cyrus was a “gentile king” and he is called “Anointed” in this passage.
Still not get the problem here? To the Jews, calling a gentile "anointed" was like calling a “Pot” a “THRONE”... Got it? They were unclean. (Like my so-called “pot”). Ewe! Walk the other way, quickly! Unclean! To say that they “turned their nose up” would be a GROSS understatement (like the pot).
This is the only place where a gentile king is called "anointed".
So, why is God calling this “POT” a “Throne”?
“I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD.” (45:3)
God is taking this unclean pot and using it for noble purposes. He is going to use him to free HIS people Israel.
Here is what God says about that, “I have made Israel for myself, and they will someday honor me before the whole world.” (43:21)
King Cyrus is putty in the Maker’s hands!
Listen to the next part as God talks about all that He has done before for His people, “But forget all that-- It is NOTHING compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (43:18-19)
Speaking of “Pots”, does your life ever feel like it has “gone to pot”?
One of God’s best reminders to me of His faithfulness as "Potter" is when I think of Joni Eareckson Tada, who became a quadriplegic at the age of seventeen.
She was just going for a swim when she dove and broke her neck!
What a severe grace from a loving Father, but I have to tell you that she has touched more lives than any other disabled person in all of history. Wheelchairs for the world, disability ministries in churches, rights given to the disabled through government legislation, podcasts, artwork, music, advocacy, and Family Camps for disabled families are just a few of the blessings from her ministry.
We have met Joni and worked at her camps, and our family has been blessed and changed. So, have countless other families with disabilities. To many of us we think that God caused her happy life to “go to pot’, but here is what she has to say on the subject…
“I’d rather be in this wheelchair knowing God than on my feet without him.”-- Joni Eareckson Tada
Do we trust the Potter with what he is doing with our lives?
We are "HIS CLAY"!
