THE POTTER AND THE CLAY
“But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand”
(Isaiah 64:8).
I wonder how much we actually focus on this verse. How many of us just glance over it as we do the readings and don’t give it much thought? How often do we really think about the image being presented here by Isaiah?
Picture yourself as a lump of dry clay. The potter gently picks you up with His warm, strong hands. He adds drops of water, to make you flexible and easier to work with. Then, after you are of the correct texture, the potter lifts you high into the air and then He throws you down hard to remove all of your air bubbles and flaws.
Next He puts you on the wheel and you turn and turn. He shapes you exactly as He wants you, pushing and moulding you. Sometimes the pushing hurts, but you know that when He is finished, you will be a beautiful creation. All of this pain, this turning in circles, will be worth it!
As the potter pulls and stretches, you start to take on the shape He wants you to be. With every pull and every stretch you become stronger, and better equipped to withstand future eventualities. This is similar to the clay on the wheel. Initially we may feel dizzy as the wheel spins faster and faster – we may even find times when we are willing the potter to stop the wheel - but gradually, with every turn of the wheel we become closer to that standard that the potter has in mind; nearer to perfection (although in this life we will never reach that state).
The potter is making you more beautiful with everything He does – even if at the time it may seem painful. All that you have been through – being thrown onto the table, the monotony of going round and round on the wheel, the force of His hands – it will all be worth it! The potter is making something wonderfully special and unique!
Sometimes in life it seems like things are not fair. It seems like we are being dealt all the wrong cards at times. We must always trust that God knows what He is doing, “for we are his workmanship” (Ephesians 2:10). It is easy to trust Him when things are going well, but that suddenly becomes harder when we experience bad times, doesn’t it? You will have noticed that the potter never left the pot. Not once did He give up on it or turn His back on it. He knew that when the time was right, the pot would emerge out of His hands, and when this happened, it would be stronger and more beautiful than it was before, or than it ever could be if any of the stages had been omitted.
This mirrors our life. Sometimes we go through trials and hardships, and often we cry out, “This isn’t fair”. But it is! Without these difficulties we would not be as strong or beautiful as God wants us to be. We may feel alone, but He never leaves us. He is always by our side, especially during the hardest times. God never gives up on us because we’ve messed up or taken a wrong turn in life. He forgives us each and every time. So great is His love for all of us. So we must be thankful not only for the good times, but also the bad, as it is during these times that we truly grow, strengthen, and build up that wonderful relationship with our potter.
Laura Burdekin