Woe to those who strive with their Maker,
    earthen vessels with the potter!
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?
    or “Your work has no handles”?
Woe to anyone who says to a father, “What are you fathering?”
    or to a woman, “With what are you in labor?”
—Isaiah 45:9–10

Whoa. I’ve always read this as God angrily telling humans to stop defying him, to humble themselves, and submit to his work. Because what lump of clay argues with the potter? But what if God is actually decrying our self-doubt, shame, and self-hatred? What if he is saying something closer to “How dare you think less of yourself than you ought?”

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