Week of November 16th, 2025

Encouragement from God's Word

Isaiah 45:9
“Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker,
to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
‘What are you making?’”

Isaiah 64:8
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand.

There is nothing wrong with goals and plans for the future. There is nothing wrong with an ambition to succeed in a chosen area of life.

These desires are good – as long as we always accept the will and direction of God. We should accept, with cheerful faith, the higher wisdom and ways of God that may cause our plans to go in a different direction than we wanted.

Too often, when plans do not go as expected, we are tempted to blame God. In doing this, don’t we “quarrel with [our] Maker”? Dare we, “the clay,” suggest to “the potter” that we know better?

Let us remember whose we are! Our Lord has made us to be his people by setting us free from sin and death. His ways are perfect, always leading to eternal salvation.

Make your plans and rejoice when they succeed. Likewise, accept God’s ways when they are different than what you planned. Rejoice in his ways too!