So I did as he told me and found the
potter working at his wheel. But
the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a
lump of clay again and started over. Then the Lord gave me this message: “O
Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is
in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand.
I have
watched a potter working on a lump of clay a few times, and it is a remarkable
and an amazing sight to see. That is not
because the potter is a genius or that the clay has something extra special in
it. The fact is that the potter and the
clay have a very special relationship with each other.
The
potter knows what he wants to make and does what is necessary to shape and mold
the clay. Then the clay has to be
moldable and ready for what the potter wants to do. It is not an easy process. It takes time. It takes energy. Even pain is part of the process as is
patience and strength on both parts.
I’d
like to show you the process of how the potter works on the clay, but you can
find that on your own. Google a video of
a potter or something like that. But I’d
like to focus on a different aspect.
The
clay is an important part of the process that most people most likely don’t
recognize. The clay has to have the
right properties and be able to be molded and made into what the potter is
thinking about.
During
the process the potter puts the clay on the wheel and begins to work on it with
skill and stamina. This is a safe place,
but the potter may have to cut away some of the tough spots that hurt the
clay. The clay will go through a time of
molding and making. I don’t know how
much time, but I do know that the more ornate the vessel that the potter is
making the longer the time the potter will take.
There
is also heat and fire that goes in to the process of making the clay in to the
vessel or the pot or vase or whatever.
It is not useful until it is strong and molded in to something that will
stay.
There
really is comfort from being in the potter’s hand. A lump of clay will do and can do nothing on
it’s own. It cannot become an expensive
vase or an inexpensive bowl without the touch and time of the potter. The relationship of the potter and the clay
are inseparable.
In
this Scripture God is reminding us that God is the potter and that we are his
clay. There is comfort that comes from
us allowing ourselves to be in His hands, in the potter’s hands. He can and will make more of us than we can
make for ourselves. He knows what needs
to stay and what needs to be thrown away.
In the potter’s hands is the love and care that we, as God’s children,
desperately needs. We were created for
connecting and relationship with God.
The potter and the clay illustrate this so well.
May we
allow ourselves to get comfortable in the Father’s hands and find comfort from
staying with Him more and more. The
comfort of being in the potter’s hands will change our lives here and forever.
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