A better vessel

Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our potter; and we are all the work of Your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)

 Here and in several other passages in the Bible, the Lord is likened to a potter and us to the clay in His hands—clay which He wants to form into a vessel that is fit for His use.
 The potter begins by taking a hunk of clay and placing it on his potter’s wheel. As the wheel turns the clay, he molds and fashions it into what he hopes will be a beautiful vessel. All the while, the clay must move and yield to the movements of the potter’s hand. It takes time.
 Sometimes the potter discovers an imperfection, a lump or a mar. When that happens, he will crush the vessel he’s been working on, add a little water to the clay to soften it again, knead it until it’s nice and soft and malleable, and then remake it into a new and better vessel.
 At first it probably doesn’t seem like a very good thing to that vessel when its maker suddenly starts mashing and smashing and crushing and remaking it, but in the long run it becomes a better vessel for that.
Remember: everything that God does, He does in love. He is making you into a beautiful vessel, uniquely special to Him.
 He is making you into a useful vessel to bear the water of His love that He wants to pour through you to refresh others. You’re in the best of hands. Trust Him. —Shannon Shayler [1]

 People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. —Elisabeth Kübler-Ross 

[1] Anchor Birth pain of Christlike Graces