Key Verse: "Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" - Romans 9:20 KJV
Romans 9 brings us face-to-face with one of the great truths of Scripture: God is the Creator, and we are His creation. Paul has been explaining God's sovereign purposes concerning Israel, and now he anticipates the questions that naturally arise. If God is sovereign, what right does a human being have to question Him?
Paul answers with a picture that would have been very familiar in the ancient world: A potter and his clay. “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans 9:21
- The clay does not determine what the potter will make.
- The potter has authority over the clay.
Paul uses this illustration to remind us of something we sometimes forget: God is God, and we are not.
Paul continues: “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:” Romans 9:22
Notice an important word: “longsuffering.” Even in a passage dealing with God's judgment, we see God's patience.
God's judgment is not evidence of impatience or uncontrolled anger. Scripture repeatedly shows us that God is patient and gives people opportunity to repent.
Peter writes: “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
God's patience is itself an expression of His mercy. Paul then turns our attention to mercy: “And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” Romans 9:23
The phrase “riches of his glory” reminds us that salvation is ultimately about God's grace and glory.
- We cannot boast before Him.
- We cannot say, “I saved myself.”
- We can only give thanks.
Who Are We to Question God?
Paul asks: “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” Romans 9:20
This is not a rejection of honest questions. The Bible contains many people who brought difficult questions before God.
- Job asked questions.
- David asked questions.
- The prophets asked questions.
And God invites us to seek Him.
But there is a difference between honestly asking God for understanding and placing ourselves in judgment over God.
The first can be an expression of faith. The second assumes that our limited understanding is superior to God's infinite wisdom.
Paul reminds us of our proper position. We are the clay. He is the Potter.
The illustration of the potter and clay is especially powerful because clay has no independent existence apart from the potter's work.
The potter takes ordinary material and forms it into something useful.
In the same way, God takes people who are spiritually broken and helpless and, through His grace, makes them into something new.
Paul has already explained: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
The Potter is not finished with us. There are times when God may reshape our lives in ways we did not expect.
- A door closes.
- A plan changes.
- A season ends.
- A trial comes.
We may wonder what God is doing. But the clay does not need to understand every movement of the Potter's hands in order to trust Him. Sometimes God is forming something in us that we cannot yet see.
- Perhaps He is developing patience.
- Perhaps humility.
- Perhaps compassion.
- Perhaps dependence upon Him.
- Perhaps He is preparing us for something we cannot yet imagine.
The important question is not always, “Why is God doing this?” Sometimes the better question is: “Lord, what are You forming in me through this?”
The Potter's Hands
Isaiah gives us another beautiful picture: “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” Isaiah 64:8
Notice the relationship Isaiah describes. “Thou art our father.” The Potter is also our Father. That changes the picture.
God's sovereignty is not cold or distant. The One who holds authority over us is also the Father who loves us. His hands are not careless hands. They are the hands of our Creator and Father.
Therefore, when He reshapes something in our lives, we can trust His wisdom.
Life Application
When something in your life does not make sense, resist the temptation to assume that God has lost control. He has not.
Instead, bring your questions to Him honestly, but bring them with humility. Say: “Father, I don't understand what You are doing, but I trust You. Show me what You want me to learn. Make me more like Christ through this.”
Remember that you are clay in the Potter's hands. You do not have to understand every part of the process. You simply need to remain yielded to Him.
And when God begins to reshape something in your life, don't cling so tightly to the old form that you resist His work. Sometimes the very thing we want God to preserve is the thing He wants to transform.
Prayer
Father, You are the Potter, and I am the clay. Thank You that my life is in Your hands.
Help me trust You when I do not understand what You are doing. Give me humility when Your ways are beyond my understanding and faith when circumstances are difficult.
Shape my character according to Your will. Remove the things that do not belong in my life and form me into the person You want me to be.
Help me remember that Your hands are the hands of a loving Father. I may not understand every part of the process, but I can trust You. Make me more like Jesus.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
