Vessels of Clay

Lydia's father was a potter.  I never met him, he had died before my family and Lydia's became acquainted.  Their home was full of his pottery.  As a matter of fact,  he had built their home as well.  It was made out of stone and it was beautiful.  His workshop was separate from the house and also made of stone. 
I will never forget his pottery.  Each piece was uniquely beautiful.  Some were created just to admire for their beauty.  Some were very clever in their design.  Some were quite practical.  One piece in particular remains a vivid memory even more than forty years since the last time I saw it.  It was tubular like a tire.  It was perfectly round with a hole in the center and had a base, spout, and handle as well.  It was artfully ornate and glazed a gorgeous blueish brown.  I remember puzzling over how on earth he made it.  As he crafted it, I wonder how many times he had to knead the clay into a lump and start over until at last it took the exact shape he had designed.  I have imagined him seated at his wheel shaping the clay as it turned.  To this day I remain awed by his skill.
In a sense,  I came to know Lydia's father through his work.  Both in the things he made with his hands and through his children.  His children are as unique as his pottery.
There is another Lydia whose Father is the Master Potter.  You know the story.  She was from Thyatira, running her business in Philippi.  Paul found her near the river on the sabbath, praying.  Her Father had prepared her heart to receive the Good News Paul was about to present.  The clay was on the wheel, already being shaped.  Over the rest of her life, Father continued to shape the clay.  Sometimes kneading it back into a lump, continuing the process until His design was perfected.  The finished piece will be a marvel to behold.  Completely unique, genius in design, a perfect expression of the Master Potter.
Consider your own life.  You are also on Father's wheel.  Clay in His loving and perfectly competent hands.  Sometimes in the shaping process.  Sometimes being kneaded (Fire is also used in this process.  But for now it is enough to be kneaded. :-) You may have confidence that the outcome will be perfect.
Now multiply all of this countless billions of times and the scope of what Father is doing begins to come into focus.  Every person who will ever have lived becomes a unique expression of Father's Love.  And all of this is happening according to the design laid out long before the first lump of clay ever took shape.

To Him be all the praise and glory!