Reading other blogs and newsletters, many goal setters select a word or three words to guide their year. I haven’t had much luck with this idea until this year when the word – Formation – kept bubbling up in my heart.
So in 2011, I am pondering the word: Formation.
Yet soon images bombarded me: The Potter’s Hands.
So not only do I have a word for the year, I now have an image.
“O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand.” Isaiah 64:8
Look at these images:
Lord you are so tender and loving in my formation. I trust you.
Lord you know just the right place to apply pressure to form me in Your image. You will not fail me.
Lord I look at Your hands, so covered with all the stuff and muck of my sinful self that hinders my growth. Thank you for removing it even if it hurts.
Smooth my rough edges, Lord. I bend to Your skillful handiwork.
I don’t know where God is leading me with this word and these images but I will ponder them and listen.
Do you have a word or image to guide you?
Great post, Jeanie! Love this!
I don’t have one yet, but it’s a great idea! My thing this year is understanding how I can still be me but be more godly about it. I’m not afraid that God will make me boring if he makes me more holy—I just don’t know where to start the change, you know? Guess I have to leave that up to God and just remember to ask him!
Seems like this is a word and an image that strikes many people. May be all be formed by God!
I love that word. When God’s warm hands are forming me I feel at once loved, blessed and yearning. I find it amazing that in spite of the pressure the molding applies those shine through.
What a powerful and poignant word Jean! I love the fact you see the image of this word in pictures, and in how God is shaping you. Thank you for sharing this, and have a Blessed Day!
Jean I’ve always loved the story of the potter and the wheel. We are the pot and God is the wheel we sit on the wheel and allow God to mold and shape us into His image. It’s not always easy for it forms clay pots because at times I move while sitting there I get up at times when I want to do something else. Be bless