TD Jakes - The Spin Cycle
You don't get to celebrate the touch of the Master's hand because the clay is spinning so fast it doesn't even get to enjoy the touch. You know, it is the combination of the spinning and the touch that forms the vessel. The touch without the spinning would leave a hole and the spinning without the touch would just be pandemonium without formation. When the text talks about us being like the clay and the Potter, Isaiah is saying that we are shaped in the spin; that when when God gets ready to make us, he puts us in a spinning environment.
We like to do things when things are calm, you know? I like to fish when the waters are calm, early in the morning. It seems fruitful when things are calm. I like to build and buy property, build when the finances, and the family, and everything is calm. I like to take risk in the calm, but God takes the risk in the crisis, in the spinning. Sometimes it seems like he purposely picks out the worst time in the world to do the most mighty things. He says, "Abraham, I'm gonna give you a baby, but not when you feel strong, not when you're virile and you feel like, 'Yeah, I got this.'" He said, "I'm gonna do it when you feel sheepish and vulnerable, and your body is good as dead, and your wife is past childbearing age. I'm gonna do it when your testimony looks stupid. I'm gonna do it when it's ridiculous for you to tell anybody I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it in the spin cycle. I'm gonna do it with all hell breaking loose. I'm gonna do it while everything is spinning. I'm going to do it when your marriage is in the matrix".
The clay doesn't get to control the spin. You don't get to choose who you lose. You don't get to choose how you're going to be tested. You don't get to choose who's going to get sick, or who's gonna die, or who's gonna break your heart, or who's going to leave you. You don't even get to choose who you love. Have you ever loved somebody that it was stupid to love, and your mind told you you're a fool, and your heart kept sayin' "Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump," and your mind kept saying, "Shut up, shut up, shut up"? I don't like that! You can't control it. It is the spin cycle. Isaiah speaks about the spin cycle and he speaks about it from a very unique perspective.
You see, Jeremiah, when he talks about it, he talks about it from the perspective of the Potter. He tells us what the Potter is thinking. He tells us that God sent Jeremiah down to the Potter's house and said, "Arise and go down to the Potter's house, and there I will show you a work wrought in a spin cycle. I will show you how God works in the spin, and I will show you that in the spinning, the clay will be marred. And I will let you hear what the Potter thinks about the process. I will let you hear the Potter decide to keep a broken vessel, a vessel that he could've thrown away, that he could have discarded, that he could've said, 'This is too messed up to work with,' but I will let you hear the thought process of a Potter who makes a decision over a vessel that could have been discarded and watch him decide to take that vessel that could've been discarded and make it again another".
That's what I love about the text. He made it again another. It's an oxymoron. It's a ridiculous statement. He made it again another. Is it "it" or "another"? He made it again another. If it's another, it's not "it". If it's "it," it's not another. But only the Potter can take it and make it again another. It is me, but it's not me. I am the same, but I'm not the same. It looks like me, but it's not me. He made it again another. And he did it in a spin. I don't even know when it became another because everything was spinning, so I can't even tell you when I changed. I can't tell you what did it. I can't tell you what hit it because he did it in the spin. And while I was spinning, I looked around and it was me, but it wasn't me. He's wearing my clothes, but he doesn't have my attitude. He lives in my house, but he doesn't think like me. He parks in my garage, but he has a new attitude. They call me the same name, but I'm not the same guy.
And I can't even tell you when it happened because he did it in the spin cycle. And Jeremiah tells me what the Potter thinks about the spin. The Potter has control in the spin. He can decide to keep it or discard it. He can decide to reshape it or remake it. His foot controls how fast the spin is. The Potter has control in the spin. And I thank you, Lord, that when you could have thrown me off the wheel, when you saw how broken I was, you could have decided that I wasn't worth the investment, I thank you, Lord, when it looked like I wasn't a good deal that you kept me when you could have killed me. To God be the glory. I owe you the praise. I must give you the honor. I must give you the glory. I must worship you at all times, in all places, in all ways. Because sometimes you and I are the only ones who know how marred I am in your hands. "He made it again another vessel, as seemeth good to the Potter to make it". He didn't meet with you about me. He didn't ask you about me. He didn't need your vote to bless me.
So why am I all up in your face tryin' to see whether you like me? You don't get to vote on my blessing. The Bible said, "He did it as seemeth good". He brought me here because it seemed good to the Potter to do so. He gave me this position 'cause it seemed good for the Potter to do so. And even when you voted against me, he raised me up anyway 'cause your vote does not count in his counsel. "He made it again another vessel as seemeth good to the Potter to make it". Well, I wanna hurry. This is good. Are you getting anything? I want you to see this part right here. Isaiah doesn't talk about it from the Potter's perspective, he talks about it from the position of the angry clay. The angry clay, the bitter clay, the clay that says, "It is not fair that my mama didn't raise me". The clay that says, "It is not fair that my father didn't love me". The clay that says, "It is not fair that I gave my love to somebody who left me".
The clay that questions the decision of the Potter because everything is topsy-turvy. I love Jeremiah talking about how the Potter thought, but I get the most help talking to Isaiah about how the clay felt in the spin cycle. That everything seems upside down and that you wonder, shh. You wonder, "Was God right"? Shh, don't say it. You don't testify about it, but you wonder, "Did he do the right thing"? Why did you take that away from me? You let her die now. The clay wonders, "Does the Potter know what he's doing"? The clay complains in the spin cycle. And Isaiah says, "Who are you to question the Potter? Did you make yourself"?
You wouldn't even have the opportunity to be on the wheel in the spin cycle if the potter hadn't chosen you. He picked you up when you were nothing and gave you a chance when you were nobody. And just because your life is spinning crazy doesn't mean you get to question the spin. So tell your neighbor, "Don't question the spin". Because it is Isaiah tells me the mystery of the spin. Oh, God, I wish I had time to preach this like I want to. See, you must understand what the attitude of the clay must be in order to be successful. The attitude of the clay has to remain contented. Contentment. Contentment is not complacency. I'm not telling you to be complacent, to not want anything. Contentment is not complacency.
Now, the Bible says godliness with contentment is great gain, but we are told not to be complacent. We're told to be vigilant and always abounding. So how can I have contentment and be vigilant and always abounding? Paul said, "I have learned". I have learned. Whatever state I'm in, I have learned to be contented on the wheel. I have learned to be contented when it's up. I have learned to be contented when it's down. I know how to abound. I know how to abase. I know how to be rich. I know how to be poor. I learn how to be contented without being complacent.
How can you be contented without being complacent? How can you be confident when it looks like you're losing, when it looks like you're going backwards, when it looks like it's the wrong time in your life to be single, when it looks like it's a bad time to be starting all over again? How can you be contented when you're in the spin cycle? How can you have a positive attitude? Because this is what Isaiah tells us. He tells us about the angry, bitter clay who questions the spin cycle. And then he says something that I really like. He says something. Let me find it here. He says, you might have read over it and missed it. He said, "It is not yet a very little while". If you stick with the spin, he says, "In just a little while, Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest".
Now, I want to break that down. Lebanon was known for trees. Lebanon, the cedars of Lebanon, built the temple of Solomon. The cedars of Lebanon were what was shipped in as a fine cedar forest. He says, "In a little while, that that used to make trees will grow bushes and that that used to grow bushes will make trees". In other words, he said, "When I get through spinning, I'm going to bring you into a change that the head is gonna become the tail and the tail is gonna become the head". Touch somebody and say, "Yet a little while". God says, "I'm not just spinning you to persecute you, I'm spinning you so that I can transition you from faith to faith and from glory to glory". Glory to God.
Touch somebody and tell them, "I'm in the spin cycle". When you met me, I was the tail, but when you see me again, I'll be the head. Y'all don't hear what I'm saying to you. I'm in the spin cycle. Glory to God. Glory to God. I feel like preaching this thing, hallelujah. Touch your neighbor and say, "Keep on spinning". I know you're uncomfortable. I know you're angry. I know you're upset. But you need to learn whatever state you're in to be content because God has a plan. I need you to help me preach. I don't have time to preach it. Touch ten people and tell them, "God has a plan". He has a plan. He has a plan. He has a plan. He has a plan. It feels chaotic, but he has a plan. It feels lonely, but he's got a plan. You feel frustrated, but he's got a plan. You don't understand it, but he's got a plan. You don't understand it, but he's got a plan. He's got a plan over your life.
I feel the anointing of the Holy Ghost about to fall in this place right now and I want some frustrated clay, some angry clay, some perturbed clay, in spite of your feelings, to open your mouth and give God 30 seconds of praise. What God is trying to break is your normal. He's your normal. He's after your normal. He says, the next verse says, "The deaf ears are going to hear". It is not normal for a deaf man to be able to hear. Oh God, look at your neighbor and say, "It's not gonna be normal". Your blessing is not gonna be your normal. This is important. You have to choose, do you want your blessing, or do you want your normal? You can't have it both ways. I wish y'all knew how good that was.
Some people will walk out on their blessing because they fell in love with their normal. And they will sabotage their blessing so that they can have the normal. But God said, "I'm going to spin you around til you lose control of your normal because I'm trying to bring you into the next dimension". I don't know who I'm preaching to, but if I'm preaching to you, give God a praise right now. Slap your neighbor and tell 'em, "He's breaking me out of my normal". He's breaking me out of my normal. He's teaching me how to shut my mouth. He's teaching me how to be still. He's teaching me how to hold my peace. The battle is not mine. It belongs to God. Ow! I break every yoke. I break every stronghold. Grab your neighbor and shake 'em. Tell 'em he's breaking it down. He's breaking it. He's breaking it. He's breaking it in the spin of your life. In the spin of your life. He's breaking it. He's breaking it in the spin. Open your mouth and give God a praise.
He says, "The deaf shall hear and the blind shall see". Now, that sounds good until you're the one in the spin. What do you do when God brings you a blessing that challenges how you define yourself? Will you love yourself and lose your blessing? Watch this. If you seek to save your life, you will lose it. But if you will lose your life, you will find it. God says, "If you will lose your normal, if you'll stop being deaf, if you refuse to be blind". In other words, blind man, if you break your cane and run away your dog, I'll give you your sight. But if you're gonna refuse to be changed, you will lose it. God, I feel like I'm talking to somebody. Somebody spin around right fast and help me preach real fast. This is your season to see God work in the spin cycle. This is your season to redefine yourself. This is your season.
I don't want you to tell another person how you are. I don't want you to make excuses and say, "This is how I am". 'Cause God said, "I'm gonna spin you around til you can't tell up from down because I'm getting ready to do a new thing in your life. The former things"... Wait a minute, I know I gotta quit. I need 100 radical people that will break out and give him a Holy Ghost praise right now.