My best memory of seeing a potter in action was at an art show in Alaska. She was about six feet tall, dressed in a long, burlap cape over a sweater, jeans and cowboy boots. She started a pot on her motorized wheel, got the wheel going the speed she wanted, then stood back about ten or fifteen feet and started pitching pieces of clay at the pot. If the clay resisted her best efforts, she said it was worthless and discarded it.
When I read Jeremiah 18, I think of her, and of how life sometimes seems as if God is doing that to me. It says: “‘Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.’ Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the Lord. ‘Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand . . . .’”
Even though the pot was in the potters hand, it was not the potter that marred the vessel. It is the nature of clay to go wonky on a spinning wheel. Rather, the potter’s task is to gently and carefully guide the clay and keep it from becoming misshapen. When it does, the potter may remove it from the wheel and start over, or decide that it is hopeless and throw it away.
Clay represents God’s people, in this case Israel. However, this speaks to me personally. I’m like that clay in His hands. He wants to shape me into a “worthy vessel” that has no flaws or hidden cracks and air pockets, something He can use. This requires a gentle but firm hand, and like the Alaskan potter, He sometimes throws other people at me to accomplish His purposes. I must admit, the process is not always fun for the clay!
A few verses later in Jeremiah, God says, “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”
At that, His people responded, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one obey the dictates of his evil heart.”
This response strikes my heart with sorrow, and that sorrow is a good thing. It means this marred pot is still workable, willing to have the Potter reshape and form me. The New Testament says I carry a treasure in this earthen vessel; Jesus lives in my heart. God must work and rework the clay so the treasure can be seen instead of the flaws and lumps in the container.
Being clay on His wheel is downright stressful, but having my own way means disaster. The Potter reminds me again that He promises glorious results from His work. That hope is far better than the alternative.
No comments:
Post a Comment