Turn About (Isaiah 29:16)

You turn [things] around!

Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,

That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”;

Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?

Isaiah 29:16

This is another of those verses that I have heard believers keen to apply to non-believers. And that is unfair to them. This verse; this indictment was leveled at Israel; at God’s chosen people. The issue here is not whether or not non-believers say God did not make them — admittedly, some make that very claim. The issue is whether or not we who claim to believe say this.

Immediately, we rise up to assert that we do not say any such thing. “I would never say that God did not make me!” Fair enough. Our words may never say that. But what of our actions? What of our choices? If our actions do not reflect the supremacy of God and the fact that all human beings bear, in some measure, the likeness of God and the fact that God knows better than we do; if our actions do not speak to the truth, then our actions lie.

I need to submit to what God has commanded, for the potter [is not] equal with the clay. The potter is clearly superior. I need to treat my fellow human beings as being made in the likeness of God and behave in such a way that I acknowledge my Creator, or else my actions say that He did not make me. I need to defer to God’s judgment whenever my opinion conflicts with His revealed statement. Failure to submit to what God says speaks by action that He has no understanding.

The realities are that God is far and away superior to me; that God did, in fact, make me; and that God understands everything. My mind accepts this and I am ready to speak this with my mouth, but not everyone will hear or understand my words. Everyone will understand my actions and my life. They may not agree, but they will understand just fine.

Today; this morning, I need to examine myself and see if my actions affirm God’s superiority to me and His having created me and the excellence of His understanding. If not, then my actions do exactly what Isaiah writes that Israel once did. If my actions affirm the truth, then all is well and I should stay the course.

Father, thank You for making me and for giving counsel, despite my repeated failures to accept it and act upon it. Please give me eyes that see whether or not my actions affirm the truth of Who You are. If my life does, please settle that into a habit of life. If my life does not, please correct what is wrong and set me in the paths of righteousness.