Day 116: I am the Creation

This verse selection comes from Romans 9:17-23, which is as follows.

For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” ^{(Exodus 9:16)   18} Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 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?” ²¹ Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
²² What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,


Everything God does to you or for you, whether good or bad) is willed and intended by Him to be used a lesson to bring you closer to Him.  We have no real control over our lives.  God does because He created us.  He has planned out our lives from before we were born.  Our lives resemble a quilt or a clay pot.  We can take comfort in this because God's will is the best for us.  That means that the best things will happen in our lives. 

There is a poem called “The Hound of Heaven” by Francis Thompson about a man who tried to run from God, only to find that God kept pursuing him like a hound.  It teaches that God strips us of pleasure so we learn that all the real pleasure and joy is in His arms.  All things in this world are vanities.  Once we accept this and are reunited with God and His plan for us, we can do great things!