October 18, 2026
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In Isaiah 45, the Lord God speaks a powerful word having to do with how we feel about ourselves. When we put ourselves down and believe what the devil says about us, we insult the One who formed us in the womb.
Isaiah 45:
9 “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’ Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’” (NKJV)
A potsherd is a pottery or stone fragment. We are not a potsherd – we are an expertly formed, wonderfully made, complete piece of smooth pottery without the rough edges. God is saying when we disapprove of ourselves, we are essentially questioning what God has made. We are disapproving of His work, which is not a good idea.
What God created was not created in vain.
Isaiah 45:
18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
As we age, many lose confidence and are more vulnerable to self-abasement. But the Lord assures us He will carry us to our gray hair.
Isaiah 46:
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.
5 ¶ “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?
God is teaching us to realize who it is who created us. He is incomparable! And He will carry us. He will bear us. He will deliver us even in our old age.
What God Thinks about Us
If you are feeling disenchanted, or excluded, like a fragment, or a potsherd, you need to know the Bible makes clear that God esteems us and He always has.
Genesis 1:
26 ¶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
From the moment God decided to create us, He wanted to form us in His image, in His likeness, and He wanted us to have dominion over the rest of creation. Verse 27 says that is exactly what God did!
Not only that, but God did a marvelous job when He formed us.
Psalms 139:
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.
David says in verse 14 that his soul knows very well that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. That means we also should know that very well, and we should praise God for it. We should not disrespect the Potter.
In addition, the Lord spoke a word of hope to us through the Prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 29:
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Worthy of a Ransom
Isaiah 51 tells us that God thought so much of us that He paid a high ransom for us; in fact, it was the highest ransom – the life of His only begotten Son.
Isaiah 51:
11 So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
12 “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid Of a man who will die, And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?
13 And you forget the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth; You have feared continually every day Because of the fury of the oppressor, When he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?
The Hebrew word for “ransom” means to be released, rescued, or delivered by any means necessary. Our Father in Heaven so loved us that He paid a most precious ransom for us. Therefore, God intends for us to realize that and to sing with joy and gladness, not with sorrow and sighing.
In verses 12 and 13, God asks us some direct questions – why do we value ourselves based on what fallible man says, and forget what the Lord our Maker says about us? Verse 13 says our fear of the devil is greater than our reverence of the Lord. And that should not be so!
Cleansed and No Longer Common
The Apostle Peter was given spiritual discernment of our value to God, especially we Gentiles. In Acts 10, the Lord intended to spread the Gospel, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, not only to Jews but to Gentiles as well. We talked last month about how the Spirit of God spoke to Peter in a vision and gave Him special revelation.
Acts 10:
15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”
God arranged a meeting between Peter and Cornelius and his family and friends, and the Holy Spirit fell upon them in miraculous fashion, and the Gentiles received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In 1st Peter 2, the apostle calls us God’s special people.
1st Peter 2:
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Perfectly Made
Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote about us under the inspiration of God:
Ephesians 2:
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
If you ever start thinking poorly of yourself, consider that you are the workmanship of God, and you are created in Jesus for good works. The word “workmanship” refers to the quality of the work put into every one of us. We were all made with the same perfect quality of workmanship because God is inerrant.
What’s a Potsherd to Do?
We started in Isaiah 45:9 with a discussion of the clay that speaks to the One who forms it and questions His work. That passage mentions the potsherd which is a pottery or stone fragment. We said we are not a potsherd because we are expertly formed by the Potter.
But if you are feeling like a potsherd, or a discarded fragment, then I encourage you to submit that feeling to the Lord in prayer. You see, the devil will use our fleshly nature, our prideful need for the approval of others, to make us feel jealous, and to put ourselves down. This can lead to the absence of joy and eventually to depression.
James tells us to submit all that to God.
James 4:
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Matthew and Peter also exhort us to maintain a healthy humility.
Matthew 23:
11 “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
1st Peter 5:
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Get that – God cares for you!
Closing
Let us close with a powerful promise from Isaiah 41:
Isaiah 41:
10 ¶ Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Be not dismayed because the Lord is with us and He promises to strengthen us, to help us, and to uphold us! The righteousness of His right hand will bring peace into your spirit. Praise Jesus!
Let us pray.
Father God, thank You for today’s word and for forming us masterfully in the womb. Your word is such an encouragement to us. We repent of being clay that speaks and questions Your workmanship. We submit to You, and we recommit to believing what Your word says about us, and not what man says. We humble ourselves under Your mighty hand, and we cast all our cares upon You because You care for us. In Jesus’ name, we pray these things. Amen.
If anyone has not yet received the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart, and desires to do so, please repeat this prayer after me:
Father God, I repent of my sin and ask for forgiveness today. I confess and declare that Jesus is Lord of my life from this day forth, and I believe with all my heart that You raised Him from the dead for the forgiveness of my sins. Jesus, please come into my heart and change me. Holy Spirit, I ask You to guide and direct me in wisdom. I ask that You enable me to overcome all temptation. Jesus, thank You for my salvation. I look forward to the day of the Rapture when I can be with You forever. Amen.
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