“Like Clay in the Hand of the Potter. . .”
Based on an entry in My Daily Bread devotional, I’ve become a long-distance fan of Dan Les (pronounced Ledg). As a proud artisan, he says, “I convey in my work that every vessel is precious . . . because I made it with my own hands.”
Hmmm, sound somewhat familiar?
Dan Les (Yes! That’s a real photo of him!) may very well have lifted his signature insight from Isaiah or Jeremiah in the Hebrew Scriptures. Both of those Old Testament prophets speak boldly of clay (think God’s people, like you and me!), the Potter (think God himself!), his wheel, and the process of becoming a piece of his artwork.
In fact, the apostle Paul affirms the same thing about the core of our being, “For you are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus, to do good works which he has prepared in advance for you, so that you may walk in them,” (Ephesians 2:10).
Mr. Les lives in Romania. He’s been making pottery and sculpture for decades. He commands a multi-generational skill passed down through his family. But it’s easy to see that Dan’s wisdom transcends artwork. “Clay needs to ferment a year, to have rain fall on it, to freeze and thaw out so that you can shape it—and feel through your hand that it’s listening to you.”
In pottery making language, Dan just described our journey of life!
We have a Divine Potter who puts “un-listening” clumps of clay on his pottery wheel and says, “I’m going to shape you into something amazing and wonderful. But in that process—the journey of life—you’re going to need some fermentation (life change!) . . . and you will feel the crush of my fingers at work as I shape you. And yes, there will be stages of life where it will rain on you . . . and winter storms will nearly freeze you to death . . . while all the time, I want you to be listening to me . . . ‘cause I’m fashioning you into a beautiful work of grace and service. You will be extraordinarily useful to me in Kingdom-building work . . . and reflect the care and love that I’ve invested in you.”
And OT and NT Scripture cautions us NOT to complain . . . for “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker as a pot among earthen pots. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’” (Isaiah 45:9)
Elizabeth Elliot’s husband was martyred while serving in South America. Yet, she continued to serve in God’s Kingdom and remains a great source of encouragement to mission workers worldwide. Says Elizabeth, “It is not the business of the servant to decide which work is great, which is small, which is important or unimportant—he is not greater than his Master.”
Here’s a few uncomfortable things for us clay-people to ponder on the Potter’s Wheel of Life:
- Listening clay yields to the Divine Artisan’s call and touch. How’s that working for you? Are you responding?
- Listening clay doesn’t have much to say . . . but it knows the Potter’s purpose is not to overpower it, but to shape it into something beautiful and useful.
- Listening clay humbles itself and lives under God’s mighty hand (1 Peter 5:6). It shepherds God’s flock in any number of meaningful ways.
“Like clay in the hand of the potter. So are you in my hand, Israel,” (Jeremiah 18:6)
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