Potter God

My husband and I recently set out on a road trip to visit several local potters to see their fall creations in Seagrove, NC.  One man we visited, Matthew Kelly, I had watched build his own giant kiln by himself as he posted pics and progress on social media.  I was struck by the beauty of his vases and coffee mugs.  I wasn’t surprised he was out of the mugs I wanted but we were able to place a special order so we left very satisfied.  We also bought some pottery pumpkins as well as some other small creations we decided we loved in other locations we visited.  I was amazed at everything we saw and how each artist added their own touch to the clay.  We saw patterns and colors galore!  I felt inspired to create something too!

God is the master Creator.  It’s in God;s nature to create.  We are made in the image of God and thus we also have a desire to create and feel like what we created is “good,” just like God declared in Genesis after creating.  God is different from us because he created out of nothing.  We just things that already exist and turn them into something else.  One of our church members, Amy Barney, has a flair for this and takes older furniture and makes it look fabulous and charming.  She has a trendy store in downtown Asheboro, NC called, Collective Interiors.  Here’s a sample of her talents.    

God is the potter of all creation and that includes human beings.  When we create we sometimes feel dissatisfied with our work.   I do not believe this is the case with God.   We are created with the great love God has for each and every one of us.  If we are flawed it’s because we are here, in this world of brokenness.  The moment we enter we are exposed to sin and brokenness all around us.  When do we enter?  We’ll never really know!  Some say at birth, others say at conception.  We can truly never know when that moment is that the soul enters the body while we are still here on earth.  I choose to err on the side of caution in these things, nevertheless, the point of this scripture verse today is that we are clay.  Clay is pretty useless unless there’s a potter nearby who can pick it up, mold it, perfect it, glaze it and fire it.  We are not who we are meant to be without God’s hands around us guiding us and prompting us to do great things.  Clay doesn’t have a choice really, but we do.  We are greater than clay.  Should we choose to hand over our lives to God our brokenness can be made into something beautiful.  If you feel like a useless piece of old furniture God desires to restore you, give you a new purpose and show the world what He can do through you no matter your age.

I can give you so many examples of this!

• A young man was under the influence and crashed into four people. Three were killed.  This tragic trauma brought him back to God and a ministry was birthed to people in prison that shares the Gospel with prisoners.  His mother speaks to family members of prisoners and has a beautiful ministry.
• A teen was enslaved.  She reached out to God asking to make her strong.  She ran away barefoot for over a mile after being raped and police brought her into foster care.  She is now adopted and shares what God has done in her life.
• A woman told God to just leave her alone.  She wouldn’t talk to him and she didn’t want to hear from him.  Her husband’s manager invited them to a soda shop to explore any questions about faith.  She now has been restored and regularly brings her daughters and grandchildren into the church and is a church member that’s pointing others to God.
• A man was in prison because of his addiction.  He destroyed his family and his life. Soon after his release he walked into the doors of our church not even owning the clothing he was wearing.  He was loved and discipled and now he is remarried to his wife and brings others to God through a ministry that reaching the homeless and those on the fringes of society.  God loves all people.

God is in the business of creating, remaking and restoring!  Our job is to surrender, give permission for God to mold us, apply the glaze, put us into the fire and make us so beautiful!   God wants our brokenness.  God desires for us to be healed however, ultimate healing comes when we leave this earth and are fully restored to God.  Until then we can allow our lives to be a picture of who God is and what God can do when anyone surrenders, let’s go and follows God.