I have always been fascinated by the technique of making bowls and pottery out of clay. How the potter grabs a wad of clay, makes it wet, turns on his pottery wheel and starts forming whatever he wants to create on that wheel is so cool. It could be a bowl, a plate of a cup. They know exactly what they need to do to create a masterpiece. Although I might be a creative guy, I am not very talented with art. My drawings are mostly stick figures and my paintings will certainly never be displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When I was a kid, my mom did display my artwork on the refrigerator but mostly because she knew it made me feel good! There was this one kid in high school who was an amazing artist. He was very strange and truthfully obsessed with John Lennon. he had long hair and looked like a guitarist in a rock band. I took a class in high school on filmmaking and during our class he would always be drawing something. He didn't like it if you looked at what he was drawing but, in our class, I used to sneak behind him and stare at his drawing of John Lennon. This was right after John Lennon died. He was a very talented guy and, of course, if he knew you were standing behind him staring, he always gave anyone a dirty look as if to say, "Please go away, I'm busy."
Whenever I would watch someone on a potter's wheel, I was always amazed how these creative geniuses knew how to create something from a lump of clay. Think about it? They would start the potter's wheel which always reminded me of a record player turntable, put some water on it, grab a wad of clay, pour water on top of the clay and then with their hands they would place them in a circle around the clay and begin forming the clay into, let's say a bowl. They would take their thumbs, press down with both thumbs in the middle of the clay to create the inside of a bowl. They had to be gentle! They might even add more water to make sure the clay does not dry up. They also have to make sure the clay is centered on the potter's wheel or the bowl they were making would become lopsided. One very important thing! When they are forming this bowl out of clay with their hands, they need to "smooth out" the sides to make sure there are no air pockets. This is important when they put their bowl in the pottery kiln which is blazing hot. They don't want their new creation to have any holes in it or fall apart in the kiln. Once it's hot and becoming hard, they want to be sure it is a useful bowl and not a waste of their time!
The next step is simple. Once the bowl is shaped and formed; you place the clay bowl in a pottery kiln. This kiln looks like an "old school" washing machine. The temperature is turned up to 2,300 degrees Fahrenheit. Wow, that's hot! You carefully place the clay bowl in the pottery kiln and leave it in there for 16 - 24 hours depending on what you are making and the size of your bowl. I'm sure sitting and waiting for your creation can be very frustrating, but look at the end result?
This whole process reminds me of life. We are that lump of clay. A lump of clay is motionless and has no life. When we enter this world of ours, we, as the clay are tossed on the potter's wheel that is just spinning and spinning around in circles. We have no purpose or meaning. At least we don't realize we do at that particular time. We are trying to figure out which way is up, and which way is down. The potter comes and pours water on us because he has a job. He needs to form us and shape us. He begins by wrapping his fingers around us and he has one goal. To form us and shape us into something spectacular. While that potter's wheel spins, he is forming us and shaping us with his hands. All those sharp edges are being smoothed out in our lives. All that sin, those bad habits and those bad attitudes are being shaped and formed into something good. No, not perfect but good. Sometimes the potter is there at that wheel for quite some time. He never gives up on that clay. As long as it takes him, he is working hard to form it and shape it into an amazing creation. I guess we can all figure out that the potter is Jesus. He never gives up on us, His clay. The hard part is always the last part. Going through the fire! In pottery it is a kiln but for us it's the fires of life. The fire of family issues, finances, health, personal issues, bad habits and struggles. Those are the "fiery issues" that we face. The potter allows us to go through those hard times because we are being "refined". That of course is the process of when things are being removed. That hot temperature in the kiln is what causes the pottery bowl to look amazing. The fire we go through is what causes us to come out looking excellent.
It makes me think of the story in the bible of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel Chapter three. These three godly men refused to bow to a man-made idol and because they broke the law, King Nebuchadnezzar ordered that they be thrown into the Fiery Furnace. That was their punishment. He even demanded that the furnace be turned up seven times hotter! Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego never hesitated, and they stood up for what they believe in. As they were in the fiery furnace, not one thing happened to them. They were never burned or injured. Their hair was never singed nor was there any smell of smoke on them. In fact, as the King went to check on these three "radicals", he noticed a "Fourth Man" with them in the fire that appeared to be the Son of God. Just as a pottery bowl is placed in the kiln and comes out looking amazing after time, so we come out looking amazing going through the "fires of life." Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego also came out of their "fire" with no injuries or setbacks whatsoever. I'm sure King Nebuchadnezzar believed when he looked into the fiery furnace, he would see 3 men utterly destroyed. Instead, he saw a fourth person, the Son of God with them in the fire. That "fourth man" was Jesus!
Friends, God wants to form us and shape us. It's never fun. It's never easy. This whole process of making a bowl out of clay takes time. From the pottery wheel starting, the clay being tossed on the wheel, the hands of the potter forming this bowl, the placement of the clay bowl in the kiln and then having to wait up to 24 hours to see the finished product...WOW! That is what we call a process! I think of a verse in the bible in Isaiah 64:8 -Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
Let "The Potter" do his work in you. His ways are certainly much better than our ways!!
Let's remember! The clay starts out as an ugly wad of clay. If you put that in a kiln, it would come out all ugly and not worth looking at. "The Potter" wants to do His work! Let Him! After all, He certainly knows what He is doing much better than we do!!
HAVE A BLESSED WEEKEND EVERYONE!
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