Shaping

Some years ago, we were part of a group tour which visited a potter’s business. All of the pottery there was made by hand on a potter’s wheel, and the demonstration of how it was done was fascinating. As the wheel spun, the potter guided and shaped the clay into a variety of end products: bowls, jars, vases, so forth.

Occasionally, whatever the potter was shaping didn’t work out, often because the clay “resisted” the shaping. It was too dry, it had some imperfection that marred the work. When this happened, the potter smushed the work and either started over or discarded the clay.

The real fun began when a volunteer was selected from our group to try and create something. It was a “herding cats” moment as the wheel spun and the volunteer attempted to shape and form the clay. It is NOT as easy as it looks. As you can see by the two finished products in the picture above.

In Isaiah, the writer notes that God is the potter and we are the clay. He forms us into vessels that are useful to Him, that bring Him delight and glory.

If we let Him. Too often we want to add in stuff to our lives that diminishes our ability to be formed and shaped by God. Or worse yet, we want to take over the forming and shaping ourselves. None of that works well.

And yet He is patient with us. He continues shaping and forming and creating in us what He has seen possible from the beginning.