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

Have Thine Own Way, Lord

Adelaide A. Pollard (1902) desired to go to Africa for mission work for the Lord. She never achieved her goal even though it was heavy on her heart to help in some small way in the service of God. As she reflected on her lost opportunities, she realized a special part of the work of the Lord. God is a potter who forms clay to His will and His desire. She accepted her life and that she would not be able to fulfill her dream, realizing that it was not to be in the plan of God. In that acceptance, she focused on the passage, reminding her that God designs the clay in the fashion He desires.

Adelaide entreated the Lord to search her heart to know the desire that was there. She wanted to present herself to God as a humble spirit obedient to His will. It wasn’t easy to accept her dream could not be realized, and she begged for the power to learn the lesson of acceptance. In her final statement of faith, she acknowledged the yielding of her spirit to the design and purpose of God. No matter what life would bring, she sought to live for Christ and Him alone. All she desired was for the Lord to have His way in her life. That is all that mattered to her.

Life can be a challenge, and challenges come that can be overwhelming. For the heart unprepared for the trials of life, it can be a difficult and almost impossible journey. Learning to allow God to work His will in life is a very difficult task to embrace. There is a tendency to want to direct the affairs of God to fit the needs of the individual rather than asking the Lord to have His way and leaving it at that. A man comes to the Father with a particular request and then tells God how and when to carry out the request. God will not hear those prayers.

Singing the hymn “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” is a quiet reminder that in all things, God remains the potter and men the clay. The clay has no power over the potter. There is nothing the clay can do against the potter. God is the potter because He is the Creator. Man is the clay because he is the creation. Those roles never change. When a person becomes a child of God, they give their life to serve Jesus Christ and Him alone. In the same sense that God is the potter, Christ is the potter over the life of the Christian. Everything about the Christian life is about molding the character to the image of Christ.

To be in Christ is to be a slave of Christ, bending to His will, submitting to His word, and obeying His commands. A slave has no choice but to obey. As the clay in the potter’s hand, the design of the clay comes from the potter’s hand whatever He wills. Seeking the Lord to have His own way is finding the peace that passes understanding and the communion of the Holy Spirit. Life is measured – with its ups and downs – by the potter’s will. Developing this type of trust in the Lord helps to heal the hurt, find joy in the moments of life, and look more and more for the eternal glory to be revealed in death. Have thine own way, Lord. We are the work of Your hand.