Stubbornness

Scripture

Isaiah 29:16  You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”? (ESV)

Observation

The advent of God's presence among his people would turn things upside down. The potter would become the clay when the incarnate God came to earth. To make clear God's power and role in creation the potter was now the clay and providing the opportunity for the clay to be re-formed into the image of the potter.

For those who did not understand they would fight against his presence. They were the voices who refused to accept him as the master who had formed and created them. Instead, in arrogance, they began to believe that they could handle everything themselves, assuming that God really did not understand what was going on. The result was that they remained brittle and stubborn in their flawed state.

Application

The stubborn declaration, "He did not make me" is the echo of much of humanity. It is a rejection of the Messiah and of his role in creation. Somehow we think that we all got here without the help or assistance of our Divine creator. And yet, the more that we understand about creation and the details of it all, the more we realize the complexity and the need for super intelligent intervention.

Beyond the realm of the scientific battles, there are our personal spiritual battles of self-centeredness. We would like to embrace the idea that we are in control of all that we do in our lives and we forget about our dependence up on our Creator.

This morning I was watching our granddaughter wake up on the baby monitor. This is one of those miracles of modern technology, but it also made me think about my relationship with God. Just as I can watch my grand baby on this monitor, so God sees every single one of us. God knows who we are and what our needs are for this day, just as this baby’s parents know her needs. The baby doesn’t say to the parents, “Now make sure you feed me regularly and change my diapers.” The parents already know exactly what she needs and have prepared to take care of her. They have the diapers and the wipes, and they have food in the house. Our Creator has provided all that we need for this day, which is why he invites us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”

Jesus, the Messiah, came to earth as an innocent and dependent baby to reveal to us the very character of God. Throughout his ministry Jesus often used the illustration of small children to remind us of the ways in which we were to interact in the kingdom. When stubbornness rules in our hearts we become brittle and broken. Sadly, we talk back to the Creator and tell him how to do things.

The advent of the Messiah means that things have been turned upside down. The baby came so that we could become children of God. Embracing the Messiah is letting go and joyfully accepting our role as children of God on high. In this, there is no place for stubbornness.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to live in sweet dependence upon you this day. Amen.