While meditating on this verse one morning, the LORD put me in remembrance of the ceramics class I took in school. It was there, I learned how to "throw a pot." Which is art-speak for creating a vessel using a potter's wheel. Before any potter begins, they have already formulated a purpose for their vessel so that they can begin the process by choosing the right clay. In other words, I needed to know the "end from the beginning."
After choosing the right type of clay, I had to cut a slab from the block, and then form it into a rough, misshapen ball. Not pretty at all. The next step is where I got all my aggression out as I proceeded to pummel it into submission by throwing it over and over again onto a canvas-covered piece of wood. This step was crucial to getting all the air-bubbles out which could interfere with getting the clay centered on the wheel or worse, causing the piece to blow up in the kiln.
When I was sure that I had beat the air out of the clay, I would throw it onto the center of the wheel and would baptize it with water. The water made the clay more pliable and would lubricate it so it wouldn't get dry spots that could "catch" and throw the pot off-center.
Cupping my hands around the spinning shapeless lump, I would press down firmly so that the clay would fasten to the wheel head. Now that it was centered, I could begin the process of shaping my piece. With firm and steady pressure I would press my fingers into the clay and a hole would open up in the center of the clay. Steadiness was key, the slightest variance to the left or right and the pot could collapse onto itself. As an added precaution, I would brace my elbows onto my knees to reinforce my hands. Using the picture I had in my mind's eye, I would open the hole wide enough for my designed purpose. I had width, but now, I needed depth. It was time to lift and thin the walls.
Using a sponge to keep the clay lubricated, I would apply gentle pressure on the outside while applying equal pressure on the inside and I would raise my hands up to "lift" the pot. It can take 6 to 12 raisings to get the walls to the right thickness and height. In other words, lifting your hands is not a one-time thing; it needs to be continual and consistent!
Once the walls were the desired height, I could manipulate the clay by moving my hands out in a steady manner to widen the vessel. Soon the pot took on the form that I had envisioned and I knew it was time to trim the uneven lip with a tool that looked like a pin on the end of a dowel. Using another tool, I'd run it along the bottom of the pot, trimming as much as I could now before I sliced the vessel off the wheel head using a taut wire which brings to mind Hebrews 4:12 in which the Word of God is a double-edged sword that the Holy Spirit uses to trim the excesses from our life.
The vessel now has to go through a drying process to the leather-stage in order for the final trimming to take place before the firing process. It takes time to dry the vessel to the leather-hard stage but it is essential to trimming. It is during the trimming stage that I would add the unique characteristics that gives my vessel stability and at the same time beauty.
After all the vessel had endured, you would think it was finished. But you could not be more wrong! In fact the most important steps are still to come. These steps are necessary in order for the piece to perform it's designed function. The vessel needs to be fired in a kiln. Not once, but twice. The heat inside the kiln is required to be between 1950° to 2552° F in order for the vessel to be strengthened. In other words...it is EXTREME INTENSE heat. The higher the heat, the stronger, glassier and less absorbent the end product becomes. It also burns out impurities that are found within the clay.
In life, this is where many of us lose focus because the heat is intense and we don't understand the process and the purpose of the heat. We tend to grow weary or lose faith and turn away. Instead we should surrender to the process and rejoice; knowing that this is a critical time for us to become all that God, the Master Potter, has created us to be. Galatians 6:9 KJV tells us...And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
As stated before, there is more than one firing of the vessel. A bisque fire and then the glaze fire. The first is to strengthen; and the next is what makes it beautiful!
Personally, the glazing process has always been my favorite part. As it is for most people, anyone who has ever gone to a ceramic boutique can tell you what fun it is to pick out something, select various glazes and finishes and then paint, sponge, splatter and decorate to your heart's delight. What they don't tell you, is that the glaze you pick out never looks like much when you first apply it to your piece. In fact, sometimes you can't see anything at all or worse, you paint it on and it appears like something got sick all over your piece and you think, "I've ruined it."
This is where patience is required, because you have to hand your piece over and then just walk away. They tell you to come back in a few days after it has endured a second firing. We are instructed in James 1:2-4 NKLV My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
So you wait for the time to pass, usually 2-3 days, and then the day finally arrives and you go back and pick up your finished piece.
It is at that moment when all the beauty and details that were once hidden within the glaze are fully revealed. The colors that were dull and matte have taken on a completely different appearance. They glisten and shine! They are so vibrant, that you can hardly believe that this is the same piece you placed in the potter's hands a few days ago.
Is it any wonder that our Heavenly Father chose to relate to us a Potter to clay? I marvel at how closely our lives parallel the process of creating pottery. We begin as nothing more than a clump of mud and if we allow ourselves to endure the process we come out radiant and transformed for a specific designed purpose to be used for His Glory, we are transformed from mud to Masterpiece!
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