Clay in The Potter's Hands

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter;  we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8 (ESV)

Do you have a piece of pottery in your home? I don't mean a dollar store coffee cup. I'm talking about a piece of pottery that is handmade by someone. I have a little bowl my oldest son made when he was in elementary school. I can see the size of his little fingers where he squished the bowl into shape. His initials are scratched on the bottom.  He brought it home as a gift probably for Mother's Day. It may not be much to look at but it holds my paperclips on my desk. It does its job and to me it's priceless. 

When he went off to college, he met a girl majoring in something far different than art but she took a pottery class as an elective. She is now a professional potter. Her work is amazing, very unlike the child-made bowl on my desk. Her work is unique. I can see the ridges her fingers made as she turned the pieces on her wheel. I asked her about the process of bringing her pottery to the finished product. 

She explained clay doesn't need to cure, just dry, which could be between two days and two weeks before it is fired in the kiln. In the first firing called the bisque, the pottery is heated to 1800 degrees. After the pottery is glazed it goes through another firing at 2000 degrees. This firing takes between eight and nine hours. The pots shrink 10% in the firing. She sometimes fires a third time if something needs to be fixed. I'm thinking she means fixed as in the glaze. 

She often names her pieces according to the way she glazed them. The mug shown here is a mountain view. It was a gift because she knew how much I love the mountains. The saucer under the mug is my favorite muffin plate. It was one of her first works. It's nothing like the saucers she makes now but I love it. 

Have you ever turned a piece of pottery over and noticed it's not glazed on the bottom? There's a secret about the unglazed area. Regardless of the use of the pottery, the bottom can be used to sharpen knives. Just a little kitchen magic for you there. 

Isaiah compares God to a potter. God fashions each of us with a unique job. We are all different in our appearance. Even identical twins have different fingerprints.  Some of us may feel a little misshapen by the world's standards but like my son's little bowl, we are priceless in God's eyes. The Lord knows each of us by name and we are created with a special purpose. 

The Lord's fashioning of our lives is not a hands-off process. He shapes us and molds us and often times puts us through the fire, maybe more than once. No one is too young or too old, too sinful or too messed up for God to make them into what He has planned them to be. 

Ephesians 6 tells us to put on the whole armor of God. When we put on the armor the head and front are covered but the back is still open. Of course, God's got our back but I'm wondering if like the glazed pottery if our most vulnerable side is another part God will use. 

A potter creates beautiful, useful works of art. How is God molding you into what he wants you to be?

Being molded in His image,

Gail

Whom Shall I Fear?

 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”  Acts 16:9 (ESV)

Look back at the picture again. If you saw this person sitting on the sidewalk, what would you do? Would you pass by? What if they spoke to you? How would you answer? 

Satan has us afraid on so many levels. We're afraid of being attacked. I can remember when my dad stopped picking up hitchhikers because he became afraid for his family and rightfully so. We do live in a day of caution. I saw a news report where a lady saw a family slumped over in a car unconscious. She opened the door and took out a toddler, rubbing his chest and talking to him to wake up. Others had ignored the car for quite a while. She had to take the chance because she saw a child. She also had been in the same situation years ago.  But what about other ways we are unadmittedly afraid. 

Are we afraid we don't know what to say? Afraid we will say the wrong thing? Afraid someone won't like us? It's often not just the person sitting on the sidewalk that we fear. It's often our neighbor, our family, our friends and strangers. People in every walk of our life are living in fear, fear for their souls as well as their lives. 

The man of Macedonia called out to Paul in a vision. Scripture says where there is no vision the people persish. (Proverbs 29:18). People all around us are perishing. We don't know when the next person will perish from Covid or a car wreck or some random act of violence. Paul went to Macedonia. He was beaten and imprisoned but he helped the people of Macedonia. People were saved and encouraged. 

What's holding us back from answering the cries of those who are calling out for help? What vision has God given you? 

Trying to see with God's eyes,

Gail

Watering the Seeds of Witness

 

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.  Isaiah 55:10,11

A seed dropped into the ground does not sprout without water. We sing a song about showers of blessings. We want revival. We want to see people come to know the Lord, to be saved. We want to see the "seeds" we plant in witnessing bring forth fruit, but what about the rain? What about the snow? 

Dark clouds bring rain. Often there is thunder and lightning. Rainy days are dreary and hard to get through. We usually don't like rainy days, but that's what it takes for seeds to sprout and grow and produce food. 

Dark cold clouds bring snow. Here in the south, we love snow but farther north it may not be so much fun. People say they have "cabin fever". They're tired of being inside. But snow also brings a time of quiet and peace over the land. The seeds in the ground are growing roots. Though no sprouts are yet surfacing things are happening. 

So what does all that have to do with revival and seeing people come to the Lord? It may be that we are too comfortable in the sunshine of our lives to really be willing to allow the storm clouds and the cold snow. Our roots are shallow and it may be showing in our witness. When cabin fever takes over, our family and friends often get the brunt of our frustrations. We could allow the time to be better spent finding ways for our spiritual roots to grow. When the storm clouds of life gather we are often frustrated by politics, jobs, or sickness. We may be praying for the storm to pass, failing to see that it may water the seeds of witness. Weathering life's storms can be hard, but if it causes the seed of witness to sprout and grow will it not be worth it? 

Blessings,

Gail