I started this study before we left Zambia, but never got back to it. Then I restarted it a few months ago. There were some thoughts that I wanted to put out there from it, so it has been sitting on my to write about pile since then. I suppose I better write about it or I will never get back to finishing the study!
As you will see, these are thoughts about being transformed-being clay in the Potter’s hands. I think there are plenty of things for us to think about, being the clay, especially while the Potter isn’t finished with us. (these are quotes from the study)
“Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.” Jeremiah 18:4, the Message
-He didn’t discard the marred clay. He reclaimed it. He envisioned another way to shape it.
-Marred clay is imperfect. Something failed in the formation process. Like the clay, our lives can turn out differently than expected.
When our clay gets marred by sin, mistakes, and difficulties, God doesn’t reject us. In fact, the Potter expects flaws to surface while making a vessel.
-The Potter uses the same clay. There is no refuse or thrown-away parts. All of the clay-the blemishes, fractures and failures-belong to the transformed pot.
-The Potter envisions the clay and wheel from a perspective that nobody else does.
-If the clay wobbles off center, as happens with pots and people, the Potter reforms it. If it collapses, he carefully reshapes it. p.88
-All pottery processes create a certain amount of waste clay….
…until it is fired, however all clay can be reclaimed to a working condition. Contrary to expectations, clay improves with age, and if left in a soft condition, increases its plasticity. –From THE COMPLETE POTTER by Steve Mattison
-We need to accept that spiritual transformation is circular, unpredictable, and sometimes feels like we’re falling back instead of stepping forward. Its’ messy, but God the Potter holds us. p.93
-Could it be that the Potter thrives on the chaos of the whirling wheel? Could it be that He loves messes? The Potter places his hands on slumping clay and turns it into a masterpiece. We bring the trouble. The Potter works the transformation. --Stephen W. Smith
I can, I NEED, to be reminded that I am not perfect, nor is my house perfect, nor are my kids…nor is my faith. I am an imperfect child of God being molded. He expects my flaws to come out as I am being worked-so He can redeem them into what HE wants me to be. Sometimes my “self” gets in the way and God needs to start over in an area in my life, rework it. I need to rest, I need to let myself relax into the boundaries that the Potter’s hands hold me to and move where He leads, move where He guides. Not me, HIM. If only it were that easy. Let, let, let. Instead I do, do do.
“A {person} who fails well is greater than one who succeeds badly.” Thomas Merton
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