The Potter's Hand

    "Yet, O LORD,  you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."   Isaiah 64:8 NIV

This beautiful image of God and His People is one that I have cherished for a long time. Perhaps that is why I have taken up a new hobby this fall. I have been going to beginner pottery classes.  My skills are limited  and I have much to learn, but as I have had the privilege of working with the clay and watching my creations, such as they are, emerge from it, I cannot help but reflect on this age-old idea.

Clay can be quite challenging.  Before anything can be done with it,  it must be knocked down repeatedly on a surface to soften it and round out the edges. Then it must be slammed down securely onto the wheel and centred, which involves squeezing it up and pushing it down until there are no wobbles or unevenness in the clay. Once that is accomplished,  it must be carefully opened up to the desired width. At this point,  the clay can be lifted to form the sides of a pot.  Lifting, like centring, is a finicky thing. If the wall becomes unbalanced or too thin, it will collapse, and that portion of the clay must be cut off before lifting can continue. Only when the clay is lifted properly,  can it be shaped. 

And this is only the beginning! Once a pot is formed, it must be air dried, trimmed, fired, glazed and then fired once more. This brings the glaze and clay to a mature state, no longer porous, and ready to be used for its intended purpose.

 A skilled potter, through time and practice, learns to master this meticulous process. He gets to know his clay, and simply by the touch of his hand, he can determine when the clay is centred, when and how far to lift it.  With great patience, the potter works with his clay from its beginning as an unformed lump until it is shaped, trimmed and glazed, now a beautiful and useful vessel, formed  and designed by a loving hand and ready to fulfill its purpose.  

How similar is our journey to that of the clay! Life can be difficult, filled with struggles that we cannot understand, let alone deal with on our own. Like the clay, we can be hard to work with,  loathe to take on a new form,  happy to remain shapeless and useless, rather than be stretched and prodded and worked.  And like the clay, we are fragile, always at risk of being destroyed. We are ever dependent upon  the skilled hand of the Master Potter to see us safely through the process of growing and changing and becoming.  Though we may not always perceive it, with love and patience, He forms us into beautiful and useful vessels, matured by the fires of life and the loving and firm touch of His hand.


Many years ago, I wrote a song that goes like this:
"My Jesus is the Master Potter and He's going to mould me.
My Jesus is the Master Potter and He'll mould me into what I should be.
My Jesus is the Master Potter and He's going to mould me
Into Something beautiful, the way that  I was meant to be.
He's going to make me a vessel for His use
He's going to turn me into a servant of the King
He's going to cleanse me inside out with loving care
He's going to teach me to be an instrument of His Love." (copyright Katherine Kavanagh Hoffman)

I understand a little bit more about the meaning of these words now. And I am thankful that I can depend upon the skill and patience and love of the Master Potter to bring me through this sometimes harrowing journey that we call life.