Our Potter!

There are many references in scripture to potters and pottery but we will only consider one small piece of the topic this morning: God as our Father, Creator--Potter!

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)

Watching a potter work clay on a wheel is an amazing sight. A formless lump of clay is transformed into a vessel with beauty and use through the skillful touch of the potter. The speed of the wheel is adjusted, varying pressures are applied according to the purposes of the potter and an object of art emerges from the glob. The clay is formed into a vessel of use with a design that is perfect for its purpose.

God has plans and purposes for each of us but since creation mankind has preferred to seek its own purposes! Thankfully, our Potter is patient, skilled and determined. Unlike the lump of clay on a pottery wheel, we are often not pliable subjects. We refuse to stay put and resist the hands of the Potter. We resent the pressures which shape and choose to hide in pits of isolation. We reset the wheel speed, tromping on the foot pedal erratically. We reject the Potter's purposes and seek to shape ourselves.

Eventually, though, we reach the end of ourselves; we find our purposes do not lead to fulfillment. Our Potter is there with His gentle, skilled hands reaching out. He picks us up and places us back on the wheel and begins His creation again! His hands never reject us and are always longing to shape and mold us into a vessel of His love.

What a glorious purpose for a rebellious vessel: a container for the very Spirit of God. The Potter places His love within us and allows us to pour His healing love onto other empty souls! His love is completed in the pouring and the Potter begins to mold those we overflow upon. He softens and shapes with His love; His eternal purposes flow on! Don't resist Him anymore. Trust His hand to press perfectly and His purposes to loving fulfill!