Isaiah 45:9-10

"Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!  Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth.  Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Woe unto him that saith unto his father, What begettest thou? or to the woman, What hast thou brought forth?"
Isaiah 45:9-10


This is an interesting analogy... I think it illustrates how far removed our perspective is from reality at times.  When we demean ourselves, we are really criticizing God's work.  What he made is fabulous and beautiful... through and through.  What he is still teaching us to be and helping us to see is beautiful as well... the potential within, the personal work each of us have to do... and really, the work that he is doing with each person on this earth.  We don't blame our parents for our faults (usually, at least) :) ...but we do tend to blame God.  I wonder why that is, really.  Because we *want* him to take away our freedom of choice and force us to be good?  I hope not. :)  Because we don't believe that he can see better than we can, and that he knows his creations better than they know themselves?  Perhaps.  I remember being in 3rd or 4th grade and being *so* angry with my mom and everyone around me for thinking that they knew better than I did... they wanted me to learn my times tables, and I knew, absolutely... that there was no reason for me to learn multiplication.  Why?  It was hard, and it seemed inane and pointless to me.  And I think we do the same thing with what God is trying to teach us sometimes.  We wonder: why in the universe would we ever have to learn this?  We like being the way we are... all of that.  We forget that we are becoming something greater than we could imagine in third grade... and greater than we can imagine now.  My mom was right then, and I figure... as hard as it is to accept sometimes... God is right now.  What do you think?