Isaiah 63:15-64:12

“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, NKJV)

Isaiah gives a marvelous prayer of confession where he asks for God’s help. He looks forward to the time when the Babylonians would destroy the temple and the people would feel like they were no longer the LORD’s chosen ones.

Have you ever felt like God has abandoned you? Have you ever felt like He could no longer love you because of the things you’ve done? But Isaiah knew that despite the nation’s disobedience, God was still their Father, and they were still His people. He would discipline them, but He would not disown them.

Isaiah called for God to rend the heavens, to come down, and to make His name known among the nations. Do you ever long for God to do something marvelous in our days? We hear of great revivals of the past, but do we cry out for Him to do it again? Isaiah knew that God acts for the ones who wait for Him (v. 4).

The people had become an unclean thing, and all of their righteous acts were as filthy rags. And yet God was still their Father. We are the clay, and God is the Potter. He molds and shapes us according to His will. He throws us upon the potter’s wheel of life’s circumstances. Then He presses us and forms us into the vessel of His choosing. He completes the good work He has begun. He conforms us into the image of Christ.

I have found that the more I resist His touch or become upset with the circumstances He allows, the harder it is for me. But the more I relax and trust in Him and allow Him to have His way, the easier it goes, and the more satisfied I am with the results.

“God help us not to resist your will but to humble ourselves beneath your molding hands!”