Last week we started to talk about clay and a potter’s wheel. We looked at the importance of getting off to a right start by ensuring the clay is in the center of the wheel. When the clay is off-center, well things don’t turn out as planned, but you can read more about that here. This week we’re going to look at how the work gets done, and it has nothing to do with the lump of clay! It’s all about the potter’s hands. 

Imagine a fresh, new lump of clay perfectly placed in the center of a potter’s wheel as it spins gently round and round. Now on its own that lump of clay is pretty worthless. It doesn’t do anything. It’s pretty lame actually. It’s good for one thing, laying there and eventually getting dried out and cracking. The longer it sits without being molded, the harder it becomes until it is no longer pliable. But if the potter gently manipulates the clay between his/her hands, and adds just the right amount of water to make the conditions perfect, that lump of clay begins to take on a new form. It changes from a simple lump of lifeless, shapeless clay into something that begins to look familiar.

But that clay can’t change on its own. It can’t take on new shape or begin to look like something until the potter’s hands are all over it. The more the potter’s hands surround the clay, pressing into it and forming it, the more it begins to look like something with a purpose.

Now imagine your life as that lump of clay. You can go to church and attend bible classes. You can know the right things to do. But these don’t do anything if you’re not in the hands of the potter. The bible tells us that God is the potter. He is the one whose hands are to be all over us. His hands are covered in our dirt in an effort to make us something perfect. But it can’t happen if we’re not in the potter’s hands.

Now I’ll admit, this is not easy. If you’re a typical American in the 21st Century, then you’re likely the kind of person that has some inkling of an idea that you can do it on your own. Our society is drunk on this idea of self-help, DIY, and entitlement. All you have to do is wish upon a star or ask for a little shake of pixy dust and poof your dreams will all come true. Cough…Cough…Pardon my while I gag!

If this is what you believe then I’m truly sorry but I’m about to offend you. This is not how the world works. If you are alive in this world then you know that pixy dust only works on vacation. And quite frankly it only works there for the first couple of days. And then even the happiest place on earth sounds like a daycare facility full of screaming children. Life isn’t what you make of it. It’s not all about think positive thoughts and you’ll get everything you could ever dream of. No! Positive thoughts never bought you anything. Trying harder will often just leave you worn out. None of these will really achieve that which you desire most.

Remember those hands? Sit down and just imagine what it would be like to have the same hands that crafted the universe moulding and shaping you. Feel the strong, powerful hands of the one who calmed wind and wave holding you when your storm is out of control. The more his hands are all over you, the move he has a chance to mold and shape you.

But don’t think it will be easy, because it won’t. Think of the pressure that is exerted on that lump of clay to get it to take shape. Think of the dizzying speed at which the wheel moves. Nothing about this process is comfortable but every last part of it is essential. The centering, the spinning, the molding, the pressing and forming all of these are critical parts of taking a new shape. And none of these are done by the lazy lump of clay. It only happens when we surrender to the overwhelming and immense power of the God who seeks to center our lives around him.

This week imagine and feel the loving hands of your creator gently but firmly forming you to be the person he’s created you to be. Just rest in your Father’s capable hands.