Friday, March 19, 2010

Lessons from the Potter

“But now, O Lord, You are our Father, we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand.” Isa 64:8



Our youngest just finished a pottery class. The children began learning to shape clay on the wheel while also doing hand-built projects. I guess I didn’t realize how much practice it takes to shape clay into a usable vessel on the wheel. Here are some things Abby and I discussed about the potter and the clay. It warms my heart to think of how these apply to our relationship with the Potter, our Heavenly Father.


~Clay is not lovely to begin with, but has the potential in the right hands to be a thing of beauty.


~It must first be forcefully thrown onto the wheel and sealed around the edges so it will cling tightly and not be lost. These forceful movements yield to more gentle movements as the vessel begins to take shape.


~The Potter uses many muscles and movements of his hand to press the clay in just the right way at the right time, always keeping in His mind an image of the end result. Forceful movements give way to more gentle shaping as the clay begins to soften and yield. One forceful move when the clay is fragile or pressing too long in one spot would damage the work in progress.


~Sometimes the clay hurts the Potter as a rough spot brushes past his hands.


Father, may I learn to trust Your gentle hands to shape me into the image You have in mind. May I be moldable and yield to Your touch.

7 comments:

  1. What a beautiful post Teresa! How fun that your girl was able to take that class. AND I love the Spiritual picture this gives. I didn't know that the clay will actually hurt the potters hands...that's an interesting thing to ponder. Isn't out GREAT God so WONDERFUL??? How patient and loving He is to us.

    Have a lovely day!
    Blessings,
    Camille

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  2. Oh...and what a great vessel she created! How fun! :)

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  3. Camille,

    Thanks for taking your precious time to visit. Hope you are having a blessed day. I'm amazed that the Lord takes the iniative to compare Himself to a potter(another Isaiah passage) and give us all such a beautiful picture of how He molds us. Imagine if He'd never given us that picture of Himself?

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  4. I passed your comments about her goblet on to Abby--thanks!

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  5. What a wonderful learning experience...not only learning a new skill, but a spiritual lesson also.
    She did a lovely job!

    Blessings!
    ~Nadine

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  6. Nadine,

    Thanks for stopping by and for your compliments. I'll pass them along to Abby. She's delighted that I mentioned her on my blog and loves the comments:)

    They didn't learn enough to actually fire and keep any of the projects done on the wheel, but the hand-built projects they got to paint and keep.

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  7. Isn't God's Word rich?? I love the pictures He paints for us ~ especially when He compares Himself to a Shepherd...such a BEAUTIFUL picture of God's gentle care for us!!

    Have a lovely weekend!
    Blessings,
    Camille

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