The Gentle Potter

I enjoy painting in oils or pastels, but I had never tried working with clay until the day we attended a creative workshop. We were asked to join an activity that was completely new to us. I was given a lump of clay with the suggestion that I model anything that for me, represented God. I looked at this inert lump and froze inside. I stared without inspiration for ages until the time nearly ran out. In desperation I grabbed it, broke it into two pieces and almost without thinking, shaped it in a childlike fashion. From start to finish it only took a few minutes.

When I stopped to look at the completed product I gasped and was touched to the core. It may have been rough and ready, but the two figures seemed alive. A small child sitting on Father's knee. The child was looking up into the Father's eyes in absolute trust as Father held him. The embrace was so open and gentle that the child was free to move or even get off. That model represented how and where I wanted to be with God and He wanted that even more than me.

In some ways we are like the clay. But instead of being totally passive, we need to cooperate and yield into the gentle hands of the Master Potter. God accepts us just as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us where we are. He sees the masks we wear and the games we play, that cover up the desires deep within our hearts. He longs for us to be our real selves, as He made us to be. When we first realise the pretense that we live and become broken inside, it hurts. But as we stop resisting and surrender to Father, we become more pliable in His hands and get used to His touch.

How we are going to turn out, we can leave to Him. Except we can be sure, that as we keep our eyes on Father, He will reshape us into something beautiful!

"Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel." Jeremiah 18:6 (b) New International Version