Pliability in Ministry

The Picture of Pliability

• What picture does Isaiah give in Isaiah 64:8?
  • Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
• What pronouns are used in Isaiah 64:8?
  • You - in reference to God the Father
  • our - in reference to each of us individually. Notice the personal nature of the word. God is not simply the potter, he is our potter. Each of us can have e a personal relationship with God.
  • we - In reference to each of us individually.
  • your - in reference to God. We are not a product of evolution or random chance, but the direct workmanship of none other than God himself.
• What picture does Romans 9:21 paint?
  • Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
  • We see that God, as the potter has the right to mold and make us into whatever he desires. Clay that is in-liable is not useful.
• What question does Paul as in Romans 9:20?
  • But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?”
  • It is interesting that an almost identical questions comes up in Isaiah 64:9
    • “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

Applying the Picture=

• What are some ways in which Christians fail to be pliable in their service?