Lessons from Pottery

UV 1064/10,000 Lessons from Pottery


Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Isaiah 45 v 9


We are not created to quarrel with our Maker. We are created to be friends with Him and to be His divine instruments. We are created to carry a message from Him to the rest of mankind just as a pot is created not for its own sake but to hold some water. Without a relationship with our Maker, we are but potsherds or broken fragments of pots that have fallen on the ground and competing for space and attention with other similar potsherds. We will fight with not just the Maker but with our own kind and fragment our lives, our peace, our purpose and our power even more. We have neither purpose nor meaning nor power in life without our Maker. We will be striving in vain all our lives, not knowing what we are striving for. The clay can become the pot but never the potter. We must realize our limitations and understand the vastness, greatness and awesomeness of the love, power and grace of God.

Scripture says that before the intervention of God, the earth was without form, and empty and darkness was on the face of the deep. In other words, the earth was like the other planets in the solar system. Similarly, before we were formed by God, we were without form, empty and darkness covered the depths of our souls. We were like the rest of mankind- formless, empty and devoid of purpose, meaning and power. We were like a sieve that could hold no water in it for long. The more was poured into us, the less we held back. Whatever we thought, heard or spoke just slipped through the sieve of our understanding. Whatever experience we went through, we did not get any wiser for it. In our folly, we would ask God who made us, “ Who made You? What have you made of our lives? What do you want to accomplish with such a handiwork? Don’t You have any power to change things?” No wonder all the years we struggled with God like Jacob or Israel, our lives were full of chasing of mirages in the desert, shadow boxing, wandering, fleeing, misery, powerlessness, doubt and fears. If we have to ask questions of the Potter, we only need to ask, “ Am I doing your purpose? Are You satisfied? What more do You want me to do? How can I hold, contain and pour out more ? How can my chipped and broken parts be healed?” When we ask such questions, we will be increasingly please the Potter and be greatly blessed.


But the Lord is telling us in this uni-verse that though we are as fragile and vulnerable as a pot, in His hands we will accomplish His great purpose for our lives. He will plug the gaps in our understanding, the holes in our lives that keep us from being focused. He just wants us to be still as He applies the Master’s touch to some area of our lives. The designs He has put in us are His gifts to be used for His satisfaction. He just wants us to be still as He in His mercy washes us clean and then, pours His love and grace into our lives. He wants us to bear the heat and pressure of many troubles and tribulations in this life for it has a purpose to strengthen us further that we will endure. As the Master Potter, He knows where to place us and how to use us. He desires that we pour of His love and grace into the lives of others. Each of us is the jar of clay that was washed and filled with water to the brim. We are washed with the blood of the Lamb Jesus and filled with the Word of God to the brim. Now it waits for the Master, the Potter, the Maker, the Saviour to speak the word to transform what we contain into the finest wine. As faithful pots, not quarreling or questioning pots, we only need to wait on the Lord as Mary told the servants at the feast at Canna, “ Do whatever He says.” Since we are the work of His hands, He will perfect that which concerns us. He will perfect our character, our destiny, our work, our relationships, our thoughts, our words, our very lives.

Prateep V Philip