The master craftsman prepares the clay. Pounded and pressed. Kneaded and pounded. The lump of unformed clay is placed on the wheel and set a spinning. Round and round. Round and round. Pressed, pulled, and formed. Can you feel the tension?
Chaos seems to be the norm these days. We have been pummeled by spinning forces: the brokenness of our hearts, the vulnerability of our bodies, the chaos and conflict all around. We feel the need to repent, to lament, to persevere, and to hope.
When uncertainty and challenges set our minds a spinning... night after night. What is the Master's intent?
We keep turning our attention to the Presence of God that holds me and you, that holds us all together. Even as the Potter's fingers press against the clay, notice how the Spirit presses against you. Strong. Steady. Imagine tools scraping and shaping. Feel the water dripping, softening, allowing you and me to be shaped by the Master's hands.
Years ago I was caught by this metaphor in Scripture of God as our Potter. The master craftsman leverages the centrifugal spinning force for formation. We are also formed in the tension.
Pray the metaphor of the Potter with me in these chaotic days. Find a few minutes of quiet and ask God to speak to your heart through the video and the Scriptures. Watch and listen.
Watch the clay as it wobbles and responds to the hands that form it. See the confident hands of the potter. Feel the unchanging steadiness of God Almighty.
Imagine God's hands preparing you and forming you. How is the Spirit of God pressing on your heart? Can you feel your fragility as the walls off your vessel are pulled higher and broader? The clay cannot resist, but we can resist. Have I yielded, surrendered, submitted to the Potter's hands?
What does it mean to choose fierce trust as the Potter works. He uses the pounding of the clay, the centrifugal force of the spinning wheel, and the unyielding but gentle touch of his hands to accomplish his purposes in our lives... to create a masterpiece. The Master will not be thwarted. He will complete what He has begun.
Will I yield to his touch? Will I trust his purposes?