主手中任祂揉捏的泥（耶18章）

窰匠用泥作的器皿、在他手中做壞了、他又用這泥另作別的器皿．窰匠看怎樣好、就怎樣作。（耶 18：4）

神就是窰匠，我們就是祂手中的泥。我們一出生預備要成為什麼樣的人，都由神所決定。按聖經真理，人，是不能走自己的路的，只能走神預備要我們行的路。我們的人生目標，就只是跟神接上線，然後時時求問祂：「什麼是我該作的事？我的角色是甚麼？」這也是我這些年來在事奉中，從自己身上所得到的體驗。

智慧人所羅門王，曾經衝撞過這樣的定律，想用自己的智慧來查明真相。他說：

「我心裏察究、如何用酒使我肉體舒暢、我心卻仍以智慧引導我．又如何持住愚昧、等我看明世人、在天下一生當行何事為美？」（傳 2：3)

「在天下一生當行何事為美？」這是有智慧的人都該有的警覺。若只是日復一日、年復一年，漫無目的，只隨從私慾過生活，那就跟一般動物沒什麼兩樣。因為動物也是因肚腹的需求，決定接下來的方向。人若也一樣隨著肚腹的需求（慾望），決定要讀什麼科系、做什麼工作可以賺很多錢，只為滿足慾望，那真的就失去了成為人的尊貴性。

人生其實很簡單，就只是要成為神手中的泥就可以，任憑祂來揉捏，看怎麼好，就做成什麼器皿。但是，很多人在被神揉捏時，常常會抗拒窰匠的柔捏，因為不喜歡這樣被揉、被捏，甚至時而加水軟化，時而高舉重摔，為了使這團泥均勻、適當的柔軟，預備塑造成祂所要的器皿。

耶和華說：「以色列家阿、我待你們、豈不能照這窰匠弄泥麼？以色列家阿、泥在窰匠的手中怎樣、你們在我的手中也怎樣。」（耶 18：6）

常常會聽到人的抱怨：「我本來可以做什麼的，都是因為突然遇到什麼事，所以才沒辦法成為什麼的，要不然，今天也不會這樣。」字裡行間似乎完全沒有意識到自己是泥的人生命題。有人有幸在被主摶泥的時候，雖然抗拒，卻幸運地被神揉回來，最後成為神要的樣式，得蒙神的重用。如保羅的蒙召，當耶穌從天上以強光照射，就好像被神揉捏一般。當下保羅一定不好受，因為眼睛瞬間失明，三天無法進食與喝水。但是，保羅接受了神的揉捏，一生成為神的好工人。

神的揉捏，有時僅指某一段期間內的操練；對有些人而言，有時卻可能是一生的揉捏，揉捏到生命結束的那一天。雖都是神手中的泥，有時似乎要進窰接受烈火燃燒硬化，以接受神的差遣做工；有時候卻是一生不停地接受揉捏，不需硬化，因為要在不同階段做神不同功能的器皿。於是一生事奉！一生不離開主面！

然而，遵命就有福，違命則將受咒詛。

我何時論到一邦、或一國、說：「要拔出、拆毀、毀壞。」我所說的那一邦、若是轉意離開他們的惡、我就必後悔、不將我想要施行的災禍降與他們。我何時論到一邦、或一國、說：「要建立、栽植。」他們若行我眼中看為惡的事、不聽從我的話、我就必後悔、不將我所說的福氣賜給他們。(耶 18：7-10)

By Isaiah Kao

Clay in the Potter's Hands, Ready to Be Shaped By the Lord (Jeremiah 18)

July 15, 2026

"But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make." (Jeremiah 18:4, NASB 2020)

God is the Potter, and we are the clay in His hands. From the moment we are born, what kind of person we are to become is determined by God. According to the truth of the Bible, people are not meant to walk their own way. We are to walk the path that God has prepared for us. The goal of our lives is simply to stay connected with God and continually ask Him, "What do You want me to do? What is the role You have prepared for me?" This is also what I have personally experienced through the years of ministries.

King Solomon, the wisest of men, once tried to challenge this principle by using his own wisdom to search for the answer. He said:

"I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of foolishness, until I could see what good there is for the sons of mankind to do under heaven the few days of their lives." (Ecclesiastes 2:3, NASB 2020)

"What good there is for the son of mankind to do under heaven the few days of their lives." This is a question that every wise person should seriously consider. If we simply live day after day and year after year without purpose, following nothing but our own desires, then we are little different from animals. Animals also decide where to go according to the needs of their stomachs. If people likewise choose what to study or what career to pursue merely because it satisfies their desires or earns more money, then they have truly lost the dignity that God gave mankind.

Life is actually very simple. We only need to become clay in God's hands, allowing Him to shape us however He sees fit, making us into whatever kind of vessel He desires. Yet many people resist while God is shaping them. They dislike being pressed and molded. At times, the Potter adds water to soften the clay; at other times, He lifts it up and throws it down, making it evenly mixed and properly softened, preparing it to become the vessel He intends.

"Can I not, house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Look, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel." (Jeremiah 18:6, NASB 2020)

We often hear people complain, "I could have become this or that, but because something unexpected happened, I couldn't. Otherwise, my life would be very different today." Such words often reveal that they have never realized the central truth of human life—that we are clay in God's hands. Some people are blessed. Although they resisted while God was shaping them, He graciously molded them back, and in the end they became the vessels He desired, greatly used by Him. Paul is an example. When Jesus shone a brilliant light from heaven upon him, it was as though God was molding him by force. It certainly was not pleasant for Paul. He was struck blind and could neither eat nor drink for three days. Yet Paul accepted God's shaping and became a faithful servant of the Lord through his life.

God's shaping may sometimes last only for a season of training; for others, however, it may continue throughout their entire lives, until the very end. Although we are all clay in God's hands, some seem to enter the furnace, where they are hardened by fire before being sent out to serve Him. Others continue to be shaped throughout their whole lives without ever being fully hardened, because God intends to use them as different kinds of vessels at different stages of life. Thus they spend their whole lives serving Him and never depart from His presence.

However, obedience brings blessing, while disobedience brings curse.

"At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to tear down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will relent of the good with which I said I would bless it." (Jeremiah 18:7–10, NASB 2020)

By Isaiah Kao