THE WORK OF YOUR HAND ARE WE ALL

Isaiah 64:8 But now, O Lord (YHWH - I AM Always AM), You are our Father; we are the clay and You our Former, and the work of Your Hand are we ALL."

If I accept the above scripture as true, it has immense implications for the way that I view myself and every other human being (past, present, and future).

• Everything that I have been/am/will be and everything that every other person has been/is/will be has been ordained/formed by God, for His Purposes and Plan and must, according to His nature/character ("name"), be perfectly loving, wise, just, merciful and be in harmony with His being the Former/Creator of ALL and Parent of ALL.
• When I judge myself or another human being (positively or negatively), I am ultimately judging God, the Former/Potter of each and every human being.  I am not truly judging myself or other humans. (When you get a wind-up plastic duck in the mail and it doesn't work, do you judge the duck or the Manufacturer?)
• If I judge myself or someone else in relation to how their behavior influences myself and others on the level of this world, in order make logical and, hopefully, healthy decisions for functioning in this world, it is an entirely different framework from judging their worthiness (goodness or badness/usefulness or uselessness) as it applies to their ultimate value as God's tool, handiwork, and beloved child.  Or drawing unfounded assumptions as to their ultimate destiny and value to Him in the next life (when the Bible is accurately translated/interpreted, it supports that ALL humanity will be together in joy in the next life).
• We can see and draw logical conclusions about how the person we are and the people others are may translate into more or less difficulty/pain/hardship in this life.  We generally learn those lessons from being taught or role modeled by others or we gain our own experience in these lessons  from this life.  BUT we have NO reliable framework for knowing the mind of the Creator for how each of us work perfectly into His Plan and Purposes.  We can only trust His Character/Nature that it is ultimately ALL GOOD and that He is the "Former" of  us ALL.  Some (of many) supporting scriptures include: "no one can thwart your will"; "I WILL accomplish ALL my good pleasure."; "God is not willing that ANY should perish."; "I am the YHWH - I AM Always AM and there is NO OTHER, the one forming light AND creating darkness, the One causing wellbeing AND creating calamity.  I am the I AM Always AM who does ALL these."; "For from out of Him and through Him and into Him is ALL."; "It is finished/ repaid/ completed/ perfected/ accomplished." "Love (Agape - The Care-Love that originates with God) Never Fails."

So, even if/as I continue to desire and put efforts into improving myself and the way I function in this life, I can trust that I am always Perfect for God's purposes and the "pot" that HE has formed, and therefore exactly as I am supposed to be, for His ultimate purposes, at every moment.  No matter how I appear to my earthly judgments.

And I can trust the same of every other human being, no matter how they look to my earthly judgments.

As I practice this view, negative judgments of others and myself, as to our worth, value, usefulness to the "Potter" gradually drop away, according to His timing and perfect plan.  And it becomes LOGICAL to not negatively judge the work of God's Hand (ALL of US and ALL of Creation), progressively freeing me from fear, anger, hatred, and giving me more energy and joy to be the useful tool that I AM - again according to His timing and perfect plan for me.

And I find that, no matter how "imperfect" I see myself on the level of this world, I can practice seeing myself (and ALL others) as Perfectly made by Him (at each moment) for His ultimate plan. 

"His is all the glory, and His is all the 'blame', and this dark world is just His class so ALL will bear His name (nature/character)."  From Grace's Song (see song tab on Home Page)

"You are Perfect since your Father in Heaven is Perfect" Mtt 5:48

June