Pottery with a Purpose!

May 7, 2009

Recently I went on a trip with Atlee’s fourth grade class to Sauder Villiage in Ohio. It is place to learn about how the pioneers lived. We had a beautiful day with some beautiful people. I really enjoyed myself and Atlee did too. It was good for us to spend the day together.

We saw the many ways that people used to survive when there weren’t such things as modern conveniences. I was amazed at their ingenuity, everything they had was used in some way and nothing was wasted. They made their own nails, pottery, brooms and other items . They gathered herbs for healing and seasoning their food. They made everything they needed.

I was struck by the way these items were made by loving hands and it was a great teaching opportunity for Atlee and I to see played out in real life how the Master uses heat and pressure , force, forging and tension to mold us into the child of God he wants us to be, changing us into the very image of his Son.

Watching the potter gently raise the walls of his drinking tumbler project reminded me of Isaiah 64:8 which says, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay , you are the potter; we are the work of your hand.”

It also reminded me of many other places in the bible where we are referred to as clay. The process of molding and shaping and smoothing and firing goes on in our lives day after day until we reach the desire of our Master.

Lately, I’ve felt dry and far from the Lord but as I remember the process I observed in the making of the tumbler I am encouraged. When the tumbler was finished the potter took it off the wheel to sit by itself and dry a bit before putting it into the kiln. Then to harden in the fire only to come out and sit alone again to cool in order that it would be useful to someone.

I feel like that tumbler, quietly sitting and drying or maybe cooling so as to hold the shape that the Master has made me to be.

If you’ve been going through a dry time, be encouraged, it’s all part of the necessary process and God hasn’t left you, he’s preparing you to be a vessel of honor to be used to bring a thirst quenching drink to someone else.

Thank you, Jesus, for your encouragement to me today…it isn’t that I’ve done something wrong or that you are angry with me but that you are allowing me to dry and cool for a purpose. Wherever I am in the process let me be effectively used for your Master plan. Amen.