I really enjoy drawing and painting. In fact, I like doing any kind of artistic thing. The problem is that none of those things like me very much. In school, I actually had homework for coloring. I still remember one assignment that was disguised as math but was really about coloring. There were ducks everywhere and because I was pretty good at math, I knew then that my problem was not in counting the ducks. It was the fact that none of the ducks had a semblance of being properly colored….and no I don’t mean that my teacher was a waterfowl expert who demanded proper hues. I mean my red splotch of color wasn’t even close to the duck; it was more the stuff of scary dreams. We once tried our hand at pottery clay. I made a cup, and to this day I still insist it was a cup no matter what you say it is. So, in chapter 18, when the Lord starts using the idea of pottery and shaping clay, I remembered my failed efforts. All that to say this—The Lord wanted people to understand that if a potter could take the clay and form something and then reform it yet again because it wasn’t what the potter wanted, how much more could the Lord do the same? If He took a people and prepared them for destruction because of all their sinful ways BUT they changed their heart towards HIM, he could reshape that as easily as the potter reshapes clay. Similarly, if the Lord planned a great blessing for a country and they decided they weren’t interested in Him, he could reshape that plan as well. In His mercy, He could change what was planned for a nation. He also wanted those who took pride in themselves to understand that it was God in charge—not themselves. Their pride could actually cause a problem that meant reshaping again. The Lord wants us to understand that He can take any situation and reshape it when we follow after HIM with our hearts. He always wants us to realize that it’s HIM and not us—the pottery doesn’t get to tell the potter that it isn’t interested in what the potter wants. So if we change our hearts toward Him, He can change us as easy as a potter changes the clay.