Resting in The Hands of The Potter: Trusting the Potter's Will

A journey of Trust

I have been meaning to write about the concept of resting in God on my blog for a while now. Resting in God was a crucial period in my life a few years ago, and still is. I made a decision, directed by the Holy Spirit, to return to my home country. Upon my return, it was necessary to restart life again. Yet, I was reminded of the instruction I once got: rest.

The Unconventional Rest

In a world where being constantly active is the norm, it felt unusual to be told to "rest." I hadn't particularly gotten my hands on a lot of things when I received this guidance, so it was even more puzzling why I needed to rest. I believed rest was meant for those who were exhausted or overworked. However, I didn't feel tired. In fact, I felt ready to dive into the real world after the big move. Yet, there seemed to be some hesitation in doing so.

What Then is Rest?

Eventually, I realized that plunging into all I felt I needed to begin with would only be fulfilling the work of another. Then, it dawned on me. The instruction I got was to rest in God, to trust Him.

Helpers of God

I think as Christians, we sometimes miss the true essence of God's pottery craft.

God has been in the line of work of molding for a long time. Before we were molded, He has been a Potter. And after the reason for which we have been molded has been established, His work goes on.

Probably unconsciously for us as Christians, and because of the kind of world we live in, we seem to live in accordance with this common phrase: “God helps those who help themselves.” Our level of trust and rest in God sometimes appears as though we need to do a lot before God does something. By doing this, we disregard the Potter's skill and capability and take control into our own hands, trying to mold our lives independently. As a result, we take the Potter out of the way and do the molding ourselves. Hence, we do the work of another. We try so hard to mold the outcomes of our lives ourselves. We get the clay and believe we can initiate or carry on what God has intended to begin in our life's journey.

An Invitation to Rest in God

For the unbelievers, those who do not yet take their walk with Christ seriously and are unfamiliar with what it means to rest in God, it can be compared to having someone ready to bear the burdens of life on your behalf. Yeshua mentioned

Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

You can find rest in the hands of the one capable of molding you. There is a burden, a weight of heaviness when we do not rest in Christ. It’s like the words of the writer of Ecclesiastes, “a chasing after the wind.” You do so much to gain nothing. You strive so hard to mold your life, your reputation, your career, your ambitions, your goals, your dreams, and even a positive image for yourself, yet like Isaiah said, we are all the works of His hands.

The potter is capable of molding us into our real versions. He’s capable of molding a better version of what we strive so hard to do ourselves. The positive image we work tirelessly to mold cannot compare to the image of Christ that we can embody if we place our trust in Him.

I’ve always believed that if we continue to mold ourselves and do not allow God to do the molding, we will only live as imitations. We may appear well-molded, yet something is lacking. What is lacking is the potter's hand and will.

The Believer’s Mistake

For believers, when we spend time in fellowship with God, He occasionally provides us with a glimpse or hint of the life He wishes to mold us into. Yet, the mistake we make is trying to mold ourselves based on this small picture He has shown us. Instead of waiting for the potter to mold us according to His will, in His own way and timing, we tend to hasten ahead and begin the molding process on our own.

However, I assert this: If God has a desire for how He wants us to be molded and has revealed a glimpse of this to us, He is not deficient, nor are His hands, feeble, neither is He lacking clay or in need of our help, that He cannot mold us the way He desires. If God is indeed a potter, He is fully capable of molding us into whatever He desires. Feeling the need to achieve and become the versions God is shaping is akin to chasing the wind.

The Lessons from Numbers 11

In Numbers 11, we read about Moses' rant to God, which was prompted by the Israelites' complaints about lacking meat, aside from the manna that God had provided them. After some instructions given to Moses, God assures him that there will be a plentiful supply of meat for the Israelites, not just for a few days, but for an entire month. However, upon hearing this, Moses is perplexed.

With 600,000 people counted just on foot, he questioned how many herds would need to be slaughtered to feed such a multitude. Or would they need to gather all the fish in the sea to nourish over 600,000 people? He simply couldn't grasp the extent of God's ability to provide for so many. But listen to what God said:

Numbers 11: 23 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

Trusting in God’s Power

God gave Moses a little picture and idea of what He would do. How He would do it, Moses had no idea. All he got from God was an instruction and a promise. God told him the people would eat the meat they asked for, yet Moses had little to no part to play in the fulfillment of this promise. So, are His hands too short that we cannot trust or rest in Him to mold us? Is God so powerless that He needs our help to fulfill His own plans and promises for our lives? Are His hands too weak that He needs co-potters to do the molding for Him? Certainly not.

Our Role as Clays

What we ought to do as clay in the hands of the potter is this: trust in his promises for our lives. We should follow his guidance and instructions. However, believing that our actions alone will lead to our becoming is, in itself, a sign of unrest.

Clay lacks form or shape until it is molded by a potter. Similarly, we cannot be formed unless we trust and rest in the hands of the potter. Adonai is capable. The potter is capable.

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I pray that the Lord gives us the grace to rest in the Hands of the Potter.