“I was hard pressed and was falling, but the LORD helped me.” Scriptural images are helpful to us and enable us to see, relate, identify with, and more readily understand how we react or response to God’s loving invitation to communion with Him. These images provide us with the opportunity to consider whether our thoughts, feelings, words, actions, and/or desires are properly aligned with and reverently correspond to God’s goodness, grace, and generosity. For example, the image of God as a nurturing caring parent, a faithful spouse, a divine physician or as the Good Shepherd or Teacher. Do we respond as beloved children who attentively listen and remain lovingly obedient? Are we faithful in fidelity to our baptismal covenant and wedding vows? Do we give God permission to heal us from the effects of our sinfulness or provide the remedy for moments we lacked kindness or charity? The image of the potter and clay is one of the scriptural images that most challenges us in our perception of corresponding properly to God. What is helpful to note is that the clay belongs to the potter and that the potter does all the work. The clay must remain open, vulnerable, flexible, trusting that God as the Potter will make the clay into something or someone that is worthwhile, most needed, helpful, useful, functional, productive, valuable, beautiful, priceless, unique, one-of-a-kind, good, and awesome. God provides all the tools. He has all the necessary supplies. He has the vision, the mission, the strategy, the objective. It is His idea. He created it. He creates the purpose, the need, the desire, and outcome. He formulates the plan and brings it to a successful completion. God does not need to know how to do something correctly. God is perfect. God does not need us to remind Him how to do something or when to do something. God is faithful, reliable and can be trusted. God does not need your input on how to create you. God has done this before many times and is the best at it. No one can create out of nothing like God. Trust that God has this, truly cares and only wills your happiness and desires what is best for you. Trust God knows what He is doing. Remind yourself of that. Say, Jesus, I trust in you. Have faith and confidence in God. Everything He makes is very good. He made you. You belong to Him. Let Him chisel away what is not useful or helpful and make you His beautiful masterpiece once again.
