我們對包愛德（Adelaide Pollard）所知甚少，而這正足以說明，她是一位謙卑服事上帝的僕人，不求個人的名聲。在她四十歲時，她強烈感受到上帝呼召她去非洲作宣教士，但總是「不得其門而入」，這讓她非常沮喪。但包愛德想起一節經文：「泥在窯匠的手中怎樣，你們在我手中也怎樣」（耶利米書18章6節）。後來，她寫了一首讚美詩，其中有一句歌詞說：「祢是陶匠，我是泥土。」

耶利米書所描述的這幅畫面，對你我當今的生活仍能帶來啟示：「陶匠用他手中的泥所做的器皿壞了，他就用這泥再做別的器皿，照著自己的意思去作」（4節，新譯本）。這描繪上帝如何重新塑造我們的生命，符合祂更美好的旨意。無論我們自認為應該做什麼、成為什麼樣的人，但上帝或許對我們的生命有不同的心意，正如上帝說：「泥在窯匠的手中怎樣，你們在我的手中也怎樣。」（6節）

最終，包愛德確實去了非洲，但或許上帝對她的心意不僅於此，還有其他方面，例如創作那首讚美詩《憑意行》來激勵歷世歷代的基督徒。當我們覺得想要做些什麼卻「不得其門而入」時，不妨想想在這段期間上帝如何塑造我們。我們最好的選擇是讓上帝按照祂的心意行事，並且「安靜順服」，等候祂更美好的旨意。

Not much is known about Adelaide Pollard, and that’s sort of the point. She was a humble servant of God who wanted no recognition for herself. At the age of forty, she felt a strong calling to be a missionary to Africa, but that door was closed to her, leaving her greatly discouraged. Yet Adelaide was reminded of a verse: “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand” (Jeremiah 18:6). Later, she penned a hymn with these lyrics: “Thou art the potter, I am the clay.”

The image in Jeremiah has much to speak into our lives today: “The pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him” (18:4). This is a picture of how God reshapes us into His better purpose. Whatever we think we should do and be, God may have another shape for our lives: “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand” (v. 6).

Eventually Adelaide did go to Africa, but it may be that God’s shape for her life had more to do with other things—perhaps writing that hymn, “Have Thine Own Way,” which has inspired millions in the years since. When we feel “on hold” in what we want to do, we might think about how God is shaping us in the meantime. We do well to let God have His own way and wait, “yielded and still,” for His greater purpose.