It has been an unusual time and I am sure by now you have heard all the news about Covid 19 your brain can take in. So, here is something completely different. It is a reminder that you are God’s own creation. God’s masterpiece. It is a reminder that you are loved, adored actually, and created in the image of God, for the purposes of God. My new hobby has reminded me of that and I wanted to share my learnings with you!

I have discovered pottery. I am very new to this hobby but the moment my hands touched the clay I knew it was something I needed to do. To take a lump of clay and to create something with it, is nothing short of spiritual for me.

Jeremiah 18:1-4

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Isaiah 64:8 says this

Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

The words of scripture depicting God as the potter becomes palpable when I am at the wheel.

So here is what I have learned.

1. Centering. The lump of clay first has to be centered in the middle of the wheel. In order to centre, you have to apply some significant pressure on it, but without centering you will never get a pot made. It can be a difficult and often tedious process but it is absolutely necessary to make a successful pot. Like scripture tells us, we are like the clay and we too have to be properly centered in God before God can start to mold and shape us.

2. Transforming. While the clay is spinning on the wheel I push down on the top of the clay to create an opening in it. The size of the opening is gradually increased and the sides are pulled up until a cylinder is formed. My hands are applying pressure on both the inside and outside of the clay to mold, shape, and transform it into the pot. But, here’s the tricky part, it must be the appropriate amount of pressure. Too much pressure and the pot will collapse, to little pressure and the clay will not move up and the pot will not grow.

3. Water is so important. A lot of water used to make a pot. It’s interesting that God says His word is like water to our souls. Without water we become dry and hard and God can’t work in our lives and it’s the same with the Potter.

Centering, Pressure and Water.

In the same way, as we like the clay, yield to the hands of God, God literally molds and transforms us into the person that we were meant to be. Sure we can fight, dry up, tense up and get stressed or we can surrender ourselves to God’s love for us. We can choose to trust that God is control and that God is shaping us, molding us, preparing us for God’s service.

Will we still feel pressure, will we feel pain? Perhaps yes, but surrendering to God’s faithfulness and love will allow us to deal with it better. There is no better place to be but in the Potter’s Hands!

*********************

Want to watch the video version of this blog? Check out our Amberlea Facebook page!

*******************************

Check out our website regularly for how to access our YouTube Channel to watch the sermons posted every Sunday. Then join us on Sunday at 11:30 am for our virtual “Coffee Hour” on Zoom. Find the link on the website. It will be great to SEE you!!!

We are committed to being available to you during this unusual time.

Be well!