Wednesday, July 21: Hard clay

With 30 days in each month, the Hebrew calendar has 360 days in a year. So today is an important one in the “To God Be the Glory Devotional,” as it marks the 180th entry, the halfway point for the initial goal. With focus on the Lord, the devotionals have been fairly easy, yet there are days when the world gets in the way, and I feel a little half-hearted. God in His mercy continues to re-work the clay of my heart, as He does with each of us.


But now, O LORD,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.
Isaiah 64:8

One of my favorite sayings is, “The same sun that melts butter hardens the clay.” We can see that in effect all around us as to most people, the name of Jesus is a stumbling block, yet to those who believe the Bible, Jesus is the name above every name, and just by hearing His name, our hearts are softened. Yes, the cares of the world get in the way. If there was no pleasure associated with sin, there certainly would not be a lure. Living in the midst of a sinful world, it is easy to yearn for what appears to be relative ease in the lives of many. Yet with earthly prosperity comes a greater responsibility to use that wealth for God’s purposes, rather than for self-aggrandizement. Sadly, too often we turn our eyes to the world and others we know, coveting what God has given them, and in so doing, we break the tenth commandment. Rather than questioning what God has chosen to give us, we should accept His wisdom in the gifts He has given.


Surely you have things turned around!
For shall the thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding?”
Isaiah 29:16


Clay that is hard cannot be bent or molded. Instead, it must be pressed, rolled and crushed. Only then does it warm up, and only then can it be shaped into whatever the potter desires. That is what God does with each of our hearts. Cold hearts can’t be broken, but only a broken heart can find the Lord. It is in that point of brokenness when we can see the nothingness of our existence without God that we finally can see the need for a Savior. He pressed us into those situations; He rolled us to the edge of despair; He crushed our hearts so that they could learn how to truly love. He will make us the people He wants us to be, and will not complete the work until we see Him face to face.

Have you ever complained to God about the situations of your life? Doesn’t it seem a little ridiculous when you understand the depths He went to in order to give you abundant life? Do you think He would do anything that is not intended to be the best in your life? It is all for the greatest purpose, and don’t lose sight of the fact that He is using everything that He accomplishes in your life simultaneously in the lives of others. Trust Him, for He loves you so much!

5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!



Jeremiah 18:5-7