ROMANS 9:19-24 WHO ART THOU? For one to imply that he is free from the responsibility to accept God's offer of mercy and salvation, is to totally misunderstand the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. God being who He is, reads accurately what we think in our hearts. He knows "the thoughts and intents of our hearts." There are those who are fatalists and think if God has elected me then I will be saved, and if He has not, then He is responsible for me being lost. But the scriptures are plain that God "commands all men everywhere to repent." "Whosoever will may come" is God's word for us. "If any man enter in, he shall be saved," does not leave some without the opportunity to be saved. The refusal of people to respond to God's invitation is the reason they are lost. The door is open to all to come to Christ and be saved. Election is God's side of His sovereign will, working in salvation for lost sinners.
For a person to criticize God from his position of human reasoning, is the heights of arrogance. If a person seeks for some way to blame God for his hardness and rejection of God's grace, he is saying it is God's fault for not saving him. No one would or could be saved if God did not elect us, because "there is none that seeketh after God." People are lost because they are sinners and people are hardened because they are lost - not lost because they are hardened. How wrong it is for we who are created by God for His glory, to blame God for making us who we are in our sins and what we choose to be. God has formed us by His sovereign will to fulfill His purpose. It is His right to make us capable of doing what His intentions are. Any complaints we might have are a challenge made to the Almighty God and is similar to a dog howling at the moon in challenge to turn out its light.
We know God is love but He is also the Sovereign of the universe. We know God is holy and righteous, so we have no right to challenge His judgments. We know God is omniscient, so we are wrong if we complain about what happens to us or our calling in life. Rather, we should bow in reverence to Him and thank Him for making us as He chose to.
The type of vessel the Potter makes us is up to Him to choose. Some vessels are beautiful to look at, others are vessels to use. So, I am not going to waste time complaining one way or another. I only hope as a vessel for Him, I can bring some visible or invisible honor.
I am not interested in being a vessel with mars, cracks or leaking seams. God does not make mistakes in forming us that we might be useful to Him.
A vessel with self-inflicted flaws must be a disappointment to the Potter. With a sense of calm assurance, I seek to be filled for use for my heavenly Father.
In God's great plan He chooses a man and a woman to fill a special need. That vessel may to man's eyes be dishonorable but when to God's will I heed - It may be the final outcome and use can bring to the Creator satisfaction - Even though to the human view have very little use or meaningful attraction.
Some vessels may be used to hold some very special perfume. Its fragrance may be able to be sensed in each and every room. That use depends upon the Creator who can make a vessel that is very small - And from that vessel comes an attraction that is a blessing to us all.
Another vessel may be out of sight, but it contains what is essential To life itself and what it keeps safe has in it the very potential Of survival for those who use what it holds in the way that God intends. And though the vessel may never see the light of day, to the Potter's will it bends.
Far be it from me to pass judgments of vessels, the Potter is the One who knows What the use of this vessel is, because the inside of it never shows. An empty vessel may look beautiful outside, but usually there's another purpose. And the greatest honor a vessel can have, is if the Potter Himself can use us.
"Father, this morning I am seeking to understand Thy truth and fill the vessel with the good things of God. May the thoughts I have and the truths made clearer to me, be used in these days to come for the blessing of those who can draw sustenance from this vessel. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."