Choosing to Be Malleable

Clay is rigid. Once it becomes a bowl, it’s always a bowl.

We sang a song in church on Sunday called, “The Potter’s Hands.” It talks about being made and molded by God’s hands. It’s beautiful imagery. The idea of God as a potter and His people as clay is always a reminder that the clay doesn’t get to decide what kind of art it becomes. The clay must be content in knowing that the potter has a plan.

As we were singing, I was reminded of a recent conversation with a friend of mine who has retired and struggling a bit on the next chapter. Transition and change is always hard even if it’s good change.

If God has used you in a certain way, for His glory, for many years, and that path comes to an end, what’s next? Is the Potter done with you? Does He put you up on a shelf until it’s time to call you home?

These are questions that can plague us when chapters in our lives come to an end.

I have no doubt that the answer to these questions is no. God is always at work and there is no expiration date on our usefulness to Him. It’s really more about our availability and flexibility.

After church, when that song was still on my mind, I thought of a post I wrote several years ago. I had come to the conclusion that we are really meant to be more like Play-Doh than clay. Clay gets hard and dries out. Once it’s been made a bowl, it will always be a bowl.

But, Play-Doh, can be a cup, a bowl, a bird, or whatever the artist wants it to be. It can always be rolled back up into a ball and be made into an entirely new creation.

As Christians, we can choose to be either. We can choose to believe that God has only one life calling for us and when we’ve seen that through, He’s done with us. We can be rigid and unbending or we can choose to be malleable in His hands, accepting that life is always changing and therefore He might change His way of using us for His glory.

We are still a type of clay in the Artist’s hands, but a type that is useful until our last breath on this side of Eternity, being made into something entirely new whenever He sees fit.

The choice is ours to make. A song reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂