There was a couple who used to go to England
to shop in the beautiful stores.

They both liked antiques and pottery
and especially teacups.
This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day in this beautiful shop
they saw a beautiful teacup.
They said, "May we see that?
We've never seen one quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them,
suddenly the teacup spoke.

"You don't understand," it said.
"I haven't always been a teacup.

There was a time when I was red and I was clay.
My master took me and rolled me
and patted me over and over and I yelled out,
'Let me alone', but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'

"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel,"
the teacup said,
"and suddenly I was spun
around and around and around.
"Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! ", I screamed.
But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.'

Then he put me in the oven.
I never felt such heat.
I wondered why he wanted to burn me,
and I yelled and knocked at the door.

I could see him through the opening
and I could read his lips
as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'

Finally the door opened,
he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool.

'There, that's better', I said.

And he brushed and painted me all over.

The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag.
'Stop it, stop it!' , I cried.
He only nodded, 'Not yet.'

Then suddenly he put me back into the oven,
not like the first one.

This was twice as hot
and I knew I would suffocate.
I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried.

All the time I could see him
through the opening nodding
his head saying, 'Not yet.'

Then I knew there wasn't any hope.
I would never make it.

I was ready to give up.

But the door opened and he took me out
and placed me on the shelf.

One hour later he handed me a mirror
 and I couldn't believe it was me.

'It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'

'I want you to remember, then,' he said,

'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted,
but if I had left you alone,
you would have dried up.

I know it made you dizzy
to spin around on the wheel,
but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled.

I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable
in the oven,
but if I hadn't put you there,
you would have cracked.

I knew the fumes were bad
when I brushed and painted you all over,
but if I hadn't done that,
you never would have hardened;
you would not have had any color in your life.

And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven,
you wouldn't survive for very long
because the hardness would not have held.

Now you are a finished product.

You are what I had in mind
when I first began with you.

MORAL:

God knows what He's doing for all of us.
He is the potter, and we are His clay.

He will mold us and make us,
so that we may be made into a flawless
piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing,
and perfect will.

Author Unknown

Let this story be an encouragement to you
and remind you that God has a perfect plan
for your life. He may need to place some
struggles in your life to strengthen
your character so that you may be strong
in the days of greater adversity.

Don't get discouraged when you feel
like the heat of the struggle is going to burn you.

God knows exactly when to pull you out
and deliver you from that problem,
and when He does you will be
much wiser and stronger than you were before.

(Proverbs 3:5-6) (Psalm 103:13-14)

God will never give to us more
than we are able to withstand,
so remind yourself that if many problems
are coming your way,
it is only because God knows
your inner strength and ability
to be strong even in the midst of a problem.

I encourage you to talk to the Lord today
and share with God all that is upon your heart.
Let Him know of the trials that seem overwhelming
as well as thank Him for His past interventions,
and let God know that your trust and faith
is completely in Him.

I believe when we show such great faith
and trust even in the midst of a storm,
God's heart is moved
and is proud of our child-like Faith in His abilities.
(Ephesians 3:13-20)

Read and meditate on these scriptures:

Isaiah 64:8-9
“But now, O LORD, Thou art our Father;
we are the clay, and Thou our potter;
and we all are the work of Thy hand.
Be not wroth very sore, O LORD,
neither remember iniquity for ever:
behold, see, we beseech Thee,
we are all Thy people.”

Jeremiah 29:11-14
“For I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the LORD,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
to give you an expected end.
Then shall ye call upon Me,
and ye shall go and pray unto Me,
and I will hearken unto you.
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me,
when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.
And I will be found of you, saith the LORD…”

Galatians 6:2-6
“Bear ye one another’s burdens,
and so fulfil the law of Christ.
For if a man think himself to be something,
when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.
But let every man prove his own work,
and then shall he have rejoicing
in himself alone, and not in another.
For every man shall bear his own burden.
Let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth
in all good things.”

2 Corinthians 4:15-17
“For all things are for your sakes,
that the abundant grace might
through the thanksgiving of many
redound to the glory of God.
For which cause we faint not;
but though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
worketh for us a far more exceeding
and eternal weight of glory.”