THE POTTERS CLAY
by William Akehurst, HSWC
Jeremiah 18:1-6
Romans 9:20-21
Songs:
The Solid Rock
Have Thine own Way Lord
Thou art the Potter, I am the Clay
In our car, SUV, expedition…you know, when you’ve got a family of 6, it takes a pretty big vehicle to get everybody to the same place at the same time…
Typically, Terri and I are in the front, the girls in the next row, and the boys are “in the back of the bus”.
When we get in the car to go somewhere, I sometimes ask, do you know where we are going? And then might ask, do you know how to get there?
Sometimes it might be to a new place, and our kids don’t have a clue where we are headed. So, I will look in my rear view mirror, and Josiah and Jared are typically in the
very back of the car. ‘Jared’, I’ll say, ‘you ready to go? Follow me this way’. Of course he’s gonna follow me…He’s sitting in the back of the truck.
Funny thing is the girls are starting to tell their brothers to follow them. And if one is sitting next to the other, they might say something like, Stay with me, or come along
side of me, or some such rubbish.
My 3 year old Jillian loves to ride in my pickup truck. She gets to sit up front and see the sights.
But there’s one problem. Though she sits beside me in her car seat, she now thinks that she is in the driver’s seat. Every time we come to a stop in the road, she
interjects her thoughts as to where we should go. “Go that way Daddy”, she will say. And sometimes she is correct in the way we are heading, but sometimes she wants
to go in the wrong direction. And when she says ‘go that way Daddy’ and we go the other direction, at times she gets downright angry, or starts to whine. “I said the other
way Daddy”.
I tell her, but Jillian, you don’t know where we are going… “But I wanted to go this way,” she says pointing in the opposite direction.
Little Girl, you don’t know where you are going. I know where we are taking this truck. Just follow alongside me and let me do the driving.
Its funny how that works. I know where we are going, she doesn’t, yet she’s trying to tell me what to do.
This made me think about what the Bible says about how the LORD has a plan and a purpose for each and every one of us, and as long as we are obedient to HIM and
follow Him, we can stay in His shelter.
But when we choose to throw in the monkey wrench, it can mess things up.
I remember the story of the potter and the clay. If you’ve ever seen a potter make a clay pot, it’s a truly remarkable craft. I remember trying it, and the pot or whatever it
was would fall apart as I put my hands on it.
But someone who knows the craft, who knows the clay, and how to work with the clay, how much water is required to keep it moist and workable, how much pressure must
be exerted on the clay to make it hold its form.
If you ever saw a potter take a raw piece of clay, the first thing they do is cut off a slab of clay, and roll it on a table. Then, they punch it down. Much like a baker punches
down the bread so that it will rise again.
But in this case, the punching down is not for the purpose of allowing it to rise
but rather to take all the air pockets out of it.
So here is this potter, pounding the clay against the table. Sometimes adding water to the piece, and other times adding a dryer piece of clay to the mix.
As I understand it, this pounding and punching down is to condense the clay, get the air pockets out of the clay. An air pocket would later cause a defect in the
pottery…creating a weak area in the wall of the jar, or sculpture or whatever. A weak area that could lead to the uselessness of that piece.
So, once the potter has the clay at the right consistency, they take the piece and go to the wheel.
And there the clay is placed upon the wheel. Like a lazy susan, that spins around like a top. But there is a special way of doing that too. The clay is not placed on the
wheel, but rather thrown on the wheel. In order for the clay to be worked, it must ‘stick’ to the wheel. If it doesn’t stick correctly, it may fly off when the potter puts his hand to
the clay, thereby destroying the work.
Once the potter is satisfied with the placement, he begins the shaping of the clay. A meticulous laying on of his hands to the piece.
When the clay is wet, it is easily molded. When it dries, it will hold its shape. However, when it is finished, if it gets wet again, it will get soft again and lose its shape. So
by itself, it isn’t very useful as a jar. However, when the clay is subjected to fire, the heat changes everything. In the high temperatures, chemical changes take place that
makes the clay keep its shape, even if it gets wet again. Once heated through, the jar is ready, even to be able to hold and carry water, which was used to first make it
pliable.
The water is the word of the Lord. When we are ready to receive the word of the Lord, it shapes our lives to receive it. Once we have received the word, the Lord puts a
fire in our hearts that gives it that solid foundation which is Christ. Then, with that solid foundation, we become jars of clay, ready to carry the word to others…the world
around us.
Interesting concept and perspective.
Many times in our lives, the LORD is doing a work in us. But we throw up our hands. Why me LORD? What about doing it this way? Take me this way LORD!...
What would happen if that clay had a mind of its own. As it sits there spinning, the potter is able to craft the pot by letting the clay slide along his fingers. As the potter puts
pressure on the clay, the clay takes its form. But if the clay was to toss up its arms, it would mess up the piece.
God is the Potter, and we are the clay.
ROMANS 9 tells us
20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have
power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
And in Jeremiah 18: But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
We must let the POTTER do his work.
We must be still, and know that HE is our GOD…HE is in control…we must allow HIM to work HIS hands over every aspect of our lives.
IF we move and try to do things our way, we may blemish the final product.
And if we have done so, the product may appear ruined, but while the clay is yet soft and fashionable, the Potter still can use the piece.
He then, may have to pry and remove the clay from the wheel, and using His hands, he removes all the air from the piece, pounding it again and again upon the block, until
the clay is ready to be used again.
Finally, the potter will thrust it back onto the wheel once again.
And this time, the clay will take form to the finish, as the Potter desires it to be.
Then the potter turns up the fire, the final workings of his method.
It is then that the clay changes, and takes on the shine
We need to be still, and know that He is GOD. And in that stillness, we will see His shaping us, molding and making us into what HE wants us to be. Its not about us, but
entirely about Him.
We all want purpose in our lives. We all want to know that we have done our part and made our mark. And we all have opportunity to be remembered for our witness, our
ability to carry the word to others.
Some of us desire to do great and mighty things for the LORD. And perhaps we will.
But we must also remember, that Gods ways are not our ways. Our ways must be His way.
Something hit me the other day, when I was talking to a friend about His desire to get out there and evangelize. This pastor friend of mine feels that he is in a spot where
he feels held back from doing what the LORD wants him to do. And perhaps, he needs to make changes, but he also realizes that the LORD has him where he is, for this
time and purpose.
And in our conversation, it became very real to me. Jesus came from the line of David right…And throughout that line, there were some very important people. Some who
followed the LORD, and some who did not. Some of the line we used by GOD only to give birth to the next generation.
We can take that thought to heart. Perhaps we will not be a ‘Mother Teresa’ or a ‘Billy Graham’. But we can be who we are. And we can be used by the LORD to ‘birth’
another into His kingdom.
I encourage you today, that you might encourage and instruct others to follow and serve our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ.
It may be in your line, and from your life, that someone will be influenced to serve the LORD and lead hundreds of thousands of others to the LORD.
So, listen to His voice. Let Him do a work in you. Let Him mold you and make you. And be ready to be used by Him. Wherever you are, for the purpose He has assigned
to you.
That’s all HE wants…is our obedience to HIM. To live our lives for HIM. Glorifying our LORD.
Amen.
