Since the start of 2008, the thing that dawned on me so clearly that we truly don’t have a right to our own lives. There is nothing in us that could bring us further than what the grace of God can lead us. As Sylvia Evans so aptly puts in “I have but one power, the power to choose. I have but one choice, to whom shall I yield?” Ultimately, the true question is, “to whom shall I yield?” Is it to our own wants, the people we wish to please, or to our very Maker Himself? We are surely malleable clay in the hands of the Master Potter. Being malleable is defined literally as being “able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking”. It is a permanent, irreversible work that He wants to do in our lives. Knowing that strikes a certain fear in me. “What kind of shape will I take?” “Can I take this shape, Lord?” “I think this could be the best shape for me, Lord, don’t You think so?” – All these questions invariably flood my mind. Yet, we know ultimately that He knows best. It is an obvious fact, yet one that we want to put at the back of our mind, coz we choose to think that we know what’s best for our lives. It humbles me to genuinely understand that we are but stewards of the talents, gifts and calling that He has entrusted to us, not just our possessions. He chooses what He wants to do with them, even when we think that we can multiply these talents by pursuing a certain path. It’s never been about us, isn’t it?
Recently came across a little article on pottery i wrote in 2004 and it blessed my heart (sometimes the Lord lets us go through these wonderful revelations experientially but down the road we get so beaten up that we forget them)… here’s an excerpt:
To make exquisite pottery, first you have to work on the clay. Sometimes when you find clay, it is not even ready to form. One has to work with the clay, add ingredients to it & take things from it, after which it is crushed through a filtering system – like a cleansing process. It is like what our Master does to us, when he first picked us up, we were a lump of unformed, perhaps miry clay.
The potter has to work with the clay – add things to it, and take things from it. The potter adds ingredients to the clay to help it get more sticky and strengthen the body. After they crush it they pass it through a filtering system. It is kind of like a cleansing process.
The next thing they do is to wet the clay down. As the potter works on the clay, his mind is figuring out what he is going to make out of the lump of clay that he has. In Jeremiah 18, God brought Jeremiah to the potter’s house and there, he saw the potter wrought a work on the wheels, and the vessel that he made of clay was marred in his hands, so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make. Therefore, the response of the clay (which is us) determines what the Master can make out of us. When we are soft and pliable, of the right consistency, it is so easy for the Master to mould and shape us.
Sometimes the clay gets too wet. You stand it up and it just kind of flops around. Or, if the clay gets too dry, it becomes too stiff to work and cracks. Thus the potter has to be very delicate yet precise in getting the right consistency. Once you get that balance and allow the clay to work with you, the beauty starts and the creation happens.
Clay often has air bubbles trapped in it. The air in these bubbles will expand when the clay is exposed to heat. Shortly the pot will explode. Also, there may be wetter or dryer spots in the clay. These must be mixed to develop a uniform consistency throughout the clay. The potter kneads the clay, applying pressure to it to remove all the air bubbles and make sure the clay is smooth.
Now that the clay is ready, the potter slowly stretches and moulds the clay into the shape desired. He takes his time in the whole process to make sure that the clay is smoothed out, and is of the same thickness all around –not too thick and not too thin. Just right.
The pot is then left to dry, then the true test is the process call “firing” in pottery. It undergoes the fire in the kiln and behold, the pot comes out beautiful in the hands of the skilful Master. He assesses the finished pots for these standard tests: The pots should have even thickness walls, have a pleasing form, and be made for a designated purpose.
The Potter smiles as he observes his finished masterpiece, which bears his fingerprints…
Taken from a song “Fingerprints of God” by Steven Curtis Chapman:
I can see the tears filling your eyes
And I know where they’re coming from
They’re coming from a heart that’s broken in two
By what you don’t see
The person in the mirror
Doesn’t look like the magazine
Oh but when I look at you it’s clear to me that
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it’s true
You’re a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you’re covered with the fingerprints of God
Never has there been and never again
Will there be another you
Fashioned by God’s hand
And perfectly planned
To be just who you are
And what he’s been creating
Since the first beat of your heart Is a living breathing priceless work of art and
Just look at you
You’re a wonder in the making
Oh and God’s not through no
In fact he’s just getting started and…
