Verse: But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8)
Meditation: Have you ever watched a potter make something? The process takes a long time. It takes at least one week for a single project. First, before the clay even makes it to the wheel they wedge it, meaning they knead and pound the clay to remove any air pockets. If you don't wedge the clay properly and there are any air bubbles it could cause the pot to collapse on the wheel OR shatter when it meets the fire of the kiln. Then, the potter takes the clay to the wheel and with water and hand mold a pot. Sometimes the pot doesn't make it off of the wheel. For several days it needs to dry, not all the way, but enough for the potter to carve their name into the semi-hard clay so that we know who made it. Finally, the firing begins. First, to release the moisture and harden and then to cement glazing. Some pots don't pass the first firing, whether the wedging isn't done well or they were thrown too thin. Some make it through the fire but at the first jostle or temperature change shatter. Some simply have no recognition of their potter. The same is true of us, except God always does a proper wedging and he never molds us so thin we shatter in the fire. With God as our potter we don't break at the slightest jostle--although sometimes it feels that way. Even if we chip He mends it. When Isaiah acknowledges God as our potter he is saying God is molding us from start to finish and that it will take a long time through kneading and pounding and throwing and carving, and yes, fire. Our job is to trust God in the molding and the firing. A pot cannot be its own potter, and neither can we.
Prayer: Lord, I know sometimes I think I can be my own potter. Break that pride in me. Make it so evident that you are working in and on me that there is no way I can take the credit. Wedge me, throw me, mold me, carve your name into my soul, and definitely put me through the fire; so that, ________________ sees You in me first and everything else I do is an afterthought. And then, wedge them, throw them, mold them, carve Your name into their soul, and put them through the fire. Because of your rich mercy and patience and in your name, Amen.