The Master Potter

Recently, our school acquired a kiln. A whole new world of art has opened up for our elementary students, most of whom have physical disabilities. With the patient guidance of our art teacher, our students have plied clay to form pottery bowls and rolled clay into strips to make woven pottery baskets. When the raw clay pieces are finished, the art teacher “fires” them a first time, a process called bisque firing. She brings the fired pieces back to the students to be painted, or “glazed.” This is the part that fascinates me the most. The teacher sets out a number of jars of paint, each labeled with a color name. If they were not labeled, we would have no idea what color the paint was supposed to be. We trust her that the color that looks light green will actually be red, and the light purple will turn out to be yellow. The students delight in painting their artwork, and love to use a lot of different colors. As I assist eager little hands grasping flailing paint brushes, I find myself thinking, “okay, this will be a mess!” The art teacher smiles and tells us “these will be great!” and she carries them away to the kiln to be fired a second time. When she returns with the finished pieces, I am amazed…each piece is unique and utterly beautiful. The more varieties of paint that were used, the more beautiful the finished product turned out to be. Some of the pottery bowls went home for Mothers’ Day, and I am sure there were many delighted mothers.
“O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand”{Isaiah 64:8). What a profound analogy to reflect upon. God is forming each of us into a work of art, unique and beautiful. His hands are perfectly skilled, he does not make mistakes. The paint, or gloss, can be likened to the experiences of our lives. Each experience adds a dimension to who we are and brings us closer to the finished vessel our Potter plans for us to be. In our Christian journey, we are to “make every effort to add to faith, goodness, and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love” (2 Peter 1:5-7). As we eagerly attempt to pursue these qualities with unskilled hearts, our masterful Potter guides us through each life experience, adding, as it were, another color. We have to trust the Artist, because often circumstances in our lives don’t appear to be what we would expect or hope for. Trials come, refining us like fire, “so that our faith may be proved genuine” (I Peter 1:5-7). Our Potter knows exactly how much heat we need. Without the heat of the kiln, the pottery would remain fragile and plain. When heated at just the right temperature, for just the right amount of time, the pottery becomes a piece of art, a beautiful masterpiece, reflecting the glory of its Maker and given a place of honor in His house. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand…” (Jeremiah 18:6). How thankful I am to be in those hands, or this clay would be a mess…