But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand (Isaiah 64:8 KJV).

Jasper Ware Wiki Commons

When I think of pottery, I usually think of the beautifully painted pieces purchased in a store. What I don’t think about is the process clay must go through to become those beautiful pieces.

That was until I saw the similarities between my life and clay.

For instance, have you ever felt as if your world was spinning out of control? I have. For years, I struggled with this problem. Until one day, I realized it wasn’t my world spinning out of control. It was me. I needed anchoring! I needed to quit succumbing to my circumstances and set my eyes on my Deliverer.

In pottery, this process is called centering.

Centering

Wiki Commons

In centering, the potter moistens the center of the wheel and throws the clay atop it. Then, he smacks the ball of wet earth a couple of times removing the air bubbles from beneath it.

Then he begins “coning” and “flattening” (friction). This process prevents the clay from spinning out of control. The idea is the same as being in the eye of the storm. Read more here...

As a child of God, I’m like a piece of clay. The wheel is my life, the instrument the Potter uses to better mold me. It isn’t the wheel I’m to conform to but the pressure of His hands holding me steady.

As with the piece of clay, the choice is mine. Do I yield to His hands and move upward, or be carried away with the centrifugal force of the wheel and move outward?

Thankfully, I’ve come to realize when I surrender to his hands, I fulfill my design and function. When I succumb to the wheel, I thrash about and eventually shatter from the pressures of my life.

Reflection

Have you ever thought about the similarities of your life and clay? Remember, as His child, you are always in His hands!

Promises: Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalms 46:1; Isaiah 26:3; Jeremiah 32:27

Lord, hear my cry. Help me to see the need of centering in You each day. To daily seek Your face, the Author and Finisher of our faith, for the answers I need. Place within me the desire to transform into Your likeness. Be the center of my life that I may know You and Your will for me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.