The Petulant Pot

“Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’”  Romans 9:20 

One year for Christmas when we were kids, my sister received a potter’s wheel, and on occasion I tried to use it.  Poor clay.  I smashed it, spun it, shaped it, pinched it, pushed it, and pounded it—over and over and over, but in spite of my best efforts, the end result was rarely smooth and never lovely.  Yet the clay never complained, but simply sat silently, letting me mold and make it into whatever I desired.

Perhaps Paul had spent time playing at a potter’s wheel because in the middle of his bedrock treatise on the sovereignty of God, He uses this same example to drive home his point.  “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?  Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’”(Romans 9:20)  The apostle is accenting God’s ultimate right as Creator to use us as He wills for the purpose of His glory.  I would never want to deflect from such astounding truth, but the unvoiced question of the clay has captured my current attention.

“Why have you made me like this?”  The clay may never say it, but we certainly do.  Over and over and over—every time we’re discontent with our appearance or our abilities.  We want to be taller, shorter, smaller, or stronger.  We would like different hair, better skin, straighter teeth.  We wish we could sing or speak or play or teach or run or paint like others we know or know about.  We think that “if only I was…” or “if only I could…” then we would be more useful or valuable, but such is not so.  There is no “look” that will make you more loved and no talent that can make you more treasured, for your worth lies not in what you are but in the One who made you what you are. 

A simple illustration to prove my point—an upstairs dresser at my parents’ home is graced with a decorative ceramic washbowl and matching pitcher.  It is lovely and large but worth very little. (It might fetch five bucks at a good garage sale.)  Today, in a quick look online, I found another washbowl and jug—not quite a large and not nearly as lovely but worth a whole lot more.  (As in several hundred dollars.)  Why?  Because of who made it.  My dear, fun, and funny Great-aunt Jeannette fashioned the first, but a potter at the famous British company Burgess & Leigh crafted the second. The value lies not in the creation but in the creator.   

Be content with God’s creation, and stop craving change.  This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be the best we can be in appearance or ability (as my college pastor would sometimes say, “A little paint never hurt the old barn!”), but it means that we should cease from constantly comparing ourselves with others we believe are better.  The One who made you fashioned you to fit His purpose and plan, and if He wanted you to be different, He would have designed you that way.  Our continued griping might make God wonder if we doubt His wisdom or resent His authority.

“Why have you made me like this?”  Don’t ask that question in angered resentment.  Instead, ask it in honest submission, and let God show you His answer.