The Potter's Hands

God is the Potter and we are the clay .......

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ²‘Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ ³So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. ⁴The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. ⁷At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. ⁹And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it.   JEREMIAH 18:1-10 NRSV

Scottish Minister George MacDonald said that God's fingers can touch nothing but to mold it into loveliness.

Do you remember when you took art class in Elementary School? The teacher would come around to where you were seated and just plop this wet glop of clay in front of you and tell you to make something? You would just kind of stare at it for a while and wonder "Okay, now what do I do this thing?" And you would just sit there and ponder for several minutes before you got started.

I never really got beyond the "ash tray" stage because I just did not have the talent or the imagination to create anything more abstract. Other kids in my class were going to town creating vases, jars, bowls and so on. They just 'dug in' and created something quite sophisticated and beautiful. I just created 'blah' and remained satisfied that I created something i could take home and give to my Mom and DAD.

For the more creative children, they were given the choice of creating more advanced items that allowed them to use spinning wheels and so on. They could create an art project that would eventually be placed on display at the end of the year at the school art festival. There were some really beautiful pieces made.

Today, we are involved in a lifelong art project called - life. We want our lives to turn out the best way possible for us, so we are consumed with crafting circumstances, people, work, and dreams to our own advantage. We plan for the best education, the best job, the best family, the best neighborhood, the best of everything we can think of, constantly trying to shape ourselves into the right form. Whether consciously or not, we are all very diligent craftsmen.

There is a Craftsman who is more skilled than us, though, and if we were to trust Him to shape us into something more beautiful, He would. After all, clay cannot really do much on its own. We try to make art ourselves, and we end up with only a slightly re-shaped blob of clay - not much to look at and certainly not destined for any gallery for display. However, when the Master Artist makes art for us, His work can be positively breathtaking. He has a gender vision of beauty than we do.

We are reluctant to relax in the hands of the Potter for one main reason: we forget why we exist. We assume that clay exists for the sake of it's own feelings or dreams. We focus on "clay esteem," "clay actualization," "clay fulfillment," oblivious to the infinitely larger purpose of our formation.

Clay really exists for the Potter alone. When the Artist is allowed to do His work, the clay displays the creativity of His heart and mind.

Are you allowing the Potter to do His work? Never resist it, even though  there is no guarantee that it will be a comfortable process. In fact, it almost certainly will not be; if clay could feel, the bending, and twisting would likely be excruciating. The trials of your life are like the tools of the Potter. They gouge you for the sake of beauty. But the finished product is glorious. It has to be; it comes from the heart of the Potter.

God says 'trust in Him completely. There is nothing more beautiful than His artwork on display for all to see.