Becoming a Tea Cup

There was a couple who used to go to the City 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 said, "Look at yourself."
And I did. I said, "That's not me; that couldn't be 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'd 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 know 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 mould us and make us, So that we may be made into a flawless piece of work To fulfil His good, pleasing, and perfect will. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not tempt you beyond what you can bear. ~ HOLY BIBLE (1 Corinthians 10:13)

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
1 Corinthians 10:13

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

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Hebrews 12:4-12

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