Thanks for any of you who prayed for me during the current grant deadline. It’s in but under the wrong title, so hopefully the administrators can fix that on Monday.
First I want to draw your attention to a wonderful post by lorenzo the llama on pottery making. I have at least one, if not more posts that I’d like to write based on her wonderful descriptions, drawing them together with my last post on the terms “grace” and “potter”. However, for fun, I’d like to begin with the idea of the Play-doh Factory that many of us played with growing up.
Now, this might seem like a strange thing to post about, but it truly is one of the best examples I’ve ever come up with for Romans 8:28, 29. See, I have this thing about not quoting 8:28 without 8:29. (In fact, there are a couple of generations of “youth group” kids who have been well trained to always quote both!)
Sometimes I think Rom 8:28 is more quoted than John 3:16! Think back to how often you hear someone say, “it’s ok, it will all work out for good” or, “don’t worry, it will all be ok because God makes everything come out for good”? If you’re like me and you deal with lots of hurting people, you’ve heard it a lot.
Most people don’t even realize that there are qualifications listed in verse 28 for just whom things will work out for good. This promise is very specifically only for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. So, this promise is only for those who have trusted Christ as their personal Savior, which I will refer to as “Believers”.
At this point, you are probably saying, “yeh, so what does this have to do with a play-doh factory and verse 29?. Well, verse 29 explains the how of verse 28. The little word “for” beginning verse 29 in Greek means “that, because or since”. So, now we have a verse that says that all things work together for the good of those who 1) love God and 2) are the called according to His purpose (Believers), BECAUSE (vs29) the ones that are Believers were predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus so that Jesus might be the firstborn among many. This specifically defines what the good in verse 28 actually is. God uses everything that happens to us to make us look like our big brother, the first-born, Jesus, the Christ.
So, now we get to the play-doh factory – here’s what the company says about its toy, “Squeeze, shape, mold and extrude all kinds of crazy shapes with this classic set!” And they’re telling the truth; you decide what shape you want and put it on the front. Then you shove the clay into the reservoir and push the handle down like crazy and presto chango – you get really cool shapes coming out representing whatever color you put in.
And this is exactly what God is talking about in Rom 8:28, 29. Our factory, our lives, are to have the mold of Jesus on the front of them and no other is allowed. We are, of course, the clay and the things that God allows to happen to us in the world are the very things He uses to lower that handle, putting pressure on us so that we, the clay, take on the form of Jesus.
Now, there are surely a lot of ways that you can mess up this scenario. The original ones that I came up with over 20 years ago when I was spaghettipie’s age (go wish her happy birthday – because she’s making me feel OLD) are as follow: 1) you can have the wrong mold on the front of your factory, i.e., you don’t qualify for the promise or 2) you can refuse to stay put inside the clay reservoir (this has been my favorite over the years, I'd rather have that juicy worm than wait for God to feed me Himself). You can also 3) push back instead of submitting to the pressure or, 4) you can just be crusty, dried out clay that simply isn’t malleable at all anymore.
The only way 8:29 works is to submit to the pressure realizing that the good is already defined and it doesn’t mean fun, all right, good by your definition or pleasant. It only means that if you stay put where you are and malleable, God will use the trials in your life to form you into the image of your big brother, Jesus.
Help us all Lord, me the most of all, to be good clay – to stay put and to submit to the pressures you allow without looking to alternatives to Your will, trusting You to use the trials of life to make me like Jesus. And most of all, help me to be faithful and not decide I’m just tired and want to run away or ditch the mold which, is really all that matters in the end.
First I want to draw your attention to a wonderful post by lorenzo the llama on pottery making. I have at least one, if not more posts that I’d like to write based on her wonderful descriptions, drawing them together with my last post on the terms “grace” and “potter”. However, for fun, I’d like to begin with the idea of the Play-doh Factory that many of us played with growing up.
Now, this might seem like a strange thing to post about, but it truly is one of the best examples I’ve ever come up with for Romans 8:28, 29. See, I have this thing about not quoting 8:28 without 8:29. (In fact, there are a couple of generations of “youth group” kids who have been well trained to always quote both!)
Sometimes I think Rom 8:28 is more quoted than John 3:16! Think back to how often you hear someone say, “it’s ok, it will all work out for good” or, “don’t worry, it will all be ok because God makes everything come out for good”? If you’re like me and you deal with lots of hurting people, you’ve heard it a lot.
Most people don’t even realize that there are qualifications listed in verse 28 for just whom things will work out for good. This promise is very specifically only for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. So, this promise is only for those who have trusted Christ as their personal Savior, which I will refer to as “Believers”.
At this point, you are probably saying, “yeh, so what does this have to do with a play-doh factory and verse 29?. Well, verse 29 explains the how of verse 28. The little word “for” beginning verse 29 in Greek means “that, because or since”. So, now we have a verse that says that all things work together for the good of those who 1) love God and 2) are the called according to His purpose (Believers), BECAUSE (vs29) the ones that are Believers were predestined to be conformed to the image of Jesus so that Jesus might be the firstborn among many. This specifically defines what the good in verse 28 actually is. God uses everything that happens to us to make us look like our big brother, the first-born, Jesus, the Christ.
So, now we get to the play-doh factory – here’s what the company says about its toy, “Squeeze, shape, mold and extrude all kinds of crazy shapes with this classic set!” And they’re telling the truth; you decide what shape you want and put it on the front. Then you shove the clay into the reservoir and push the handle down like crazy and presto chango – you get really cool shapes coming out representing whatever color you put in.
And this is exactly what God is talking about in Rom 8:28, 29. Our factory, our lives, are to have the mold of Jesus on the front of them and no other is allowed. We are, of course, the clay and the things that God allows to happen to us in the world are the very things He uses to lower that handle, putting pressure on us so that we, the clay, take on the form of Jesus.
Now, there are surely a lot of ways that you can mess up this scenario. The original ones that I came up with over 20 years ago when I was spaghettipie’s age (go wish her happy birthday – because she’s making me feel OLD) are as follow: 1) you can have the wrong mold on the front of your factory, i.e., you don’t qualify for the promise or 2) you can refuse to stay put inside the clay reservoir (this has been my favorite over the years, I'd rather have that juicy worm than wait for God to feed me Himself). You can also 3) push back instead of submitting to the pressure or, 4) you can just be crusty, dried out clay that simply isn’t malleable at all anymore.
The only way 8:29 works is to submit to the pressure realizing that the good is already defined and it doesn’t mean fun, all right, good by your definition or pleasant. It only means that if you stay put where you are and malleable, God will use the trials in your life to form you into the image of your big brother, Jesus.
Help us all Lord, me the most of all, to be good clay – to stay put and to submit to the pressures you allow without looking to alternatives to Your will, trusting You to use the trials of life to make me like Jesus. And most of all, help me to be faithful and not decide I’m just tired and want to run away or ditch the mold which, is really all that matters in the end.
11 comments:
Goodness. There is such a lot here to discuss!
You pray to be good clay. Well, it's up to the potter to make the clay good. In my bit about wedging and kneading, this is the process of preparing the clay to be worked.
Sometimes if the clay isn't prepared enough you find hard lumps and this makes it impossible to make the pot you want as the lump throws the clay off centre.
If the clay is over-kneaded, air pockets can get in. During the centring process (the Demi Moore bit) you can get rid of a lot of the air bubbles, they just sort of squeeze out, but sometimes they get carried into the pot and then you can have an explosion in the kiln, but sometimes they fire ok.
Dried out clay: right, you cannot work dried out clay, but the potter puts it into a bucket of water with all the scraps from turning, clay too lumpy to work, etc. and the clay soaks down It is then dried out and re-wedged.
Even the dirty clay water left in the basin of the wheel is re-used. The only time clay simply cannot be re-used is if it has been fired.
I hope this gives you some food for thought!
Love Lorenzo.
ps. Actually I can think of one or two uses for fired clay, i.e. broken into bits to put at the bottom of a flower pot for drainage, and it can be ground down into dust and mixed with raw clay as 'grog', that will give a rough, rustic look to the pot.
Yes, Lorenzo, there is a lot to discuss!
You're so right. It is up to the potter to make "good clay", and human potters can choose, just like the heavenly potter, what clay to "throw" back into the water. But real clay, unlike me, has no will of it's own to resist. And resist I do - and run away and bask in the sun thinking it is good for me, something the potter has denied me and all I end up doing is being crunchy hard clay that can't be molded into anything of use.
Oh come on Susan! Clay that is thrown back into the water is NEVER wasted. Sometimes it takes a long time for it to soak down enough, especially if it's been in the sun a lot! It always get re-used at some time or other, along with all the other grotty bits and bobs that get bunged in too, to melt down, dry out and get wedged into shape again, and again, and again.
Of course the clay can resist, and it often does, especially the lumpy, air-holed type. Who wants to be pulled about and made into something we may not wish to be?! The potter doesn't give up on the clay, justs lets it soak a bit longer, kneads it a bit more, and if it is still lumpy, well then the process begins again.
Don't forget, the potter must be gentle with His clay, otherwise it just turns belligerent, awkward and rebelious. Once the clay feels the potter is relaxed then all sorts of marvellous things can be made.
Also, throwing on the wheel is not the only method of pottery. There is coiling, slabbing, moulding, hand-building, and all sorts of sub-divisions. Not all clay is suitable for wheel work. Some clay has grog mixed in and this is unsuitable for wheel work as it cuts the hands when it is thrown, but it is excellent for hand builting, coiling, rough garden pots and sculpture where more refined clay wouldn't stand a chance.
Perhaps it's best to find out which type of clay you are and then submit to the type of work that is suitable for it.
Love Lorenzo. xx
Good stuff...
I wrote a post similar in meaning to this one, "cookie jar or coffee pot", in which I say that we shouldn't complain when God is shaping us one way and we want to be another...
Okay, halfmom, you know I'm not a blog-person but here goes - -
What comes to my mind is that song "The Potter's Hand." It's exciting when you're in the middle of something knowing it's the Father Himself doing it, I feel that He is "molding" you right then and there. I absolutely love it when it's happening, you're right in it and you know it's Him. (Did I say that twice?) But it's so neat!
I also feel that there should be a willingness to be molded. If we are not willing then hard lessons come into play. Sometimes the moldings are hard (hard lessons) but then sometimes they're gentle (gentle reminders). Yet in either case, you are being molded and He will not be finished with you, you will not be perfected until the day He calls you home!
The Potter's Hand (song)
by Darlene Zschech
Beautiful Lord, Wonderful Saviour
I know for sure,
all of my days are
held in Your hands,
crafted into
Your perfect plan.
You gently call me
into Your presence
guiding me by
Your Holy Spirit
teach me, dear Lord
to live all of my life
through Your eyes.
I'm captured by
Your holy calling
set me apart,
I know You're drawing me
to Yourself
Lead me Lord, I pray
Chorus:
Take me, mold me,
use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter's Hand
Call me, guide me,
lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter's Hand
You gently call me
into Your presence
guiding me by
Your Holy Spirit
teach me, dear Lord
to live all of my life
through Your eyes.
I'm captured by
Your holy calling
set me apart,
I know Your drawing me
to Yourself
lead me Lord, I pray
Chorus
Susan, thanks for the birthday wishes and your sweet visits. I'm looking forward to reading through your blog this week! And, yes, Wordpress made it very easy to transfer ALL of my blog postings AND comments over. It's a simple as clicking a button. Are you contemplating converting? Marcus will be so proud...
Mrs Craver, I think that is a lovely comment. Thank you so much - I think you make a great blogging commentor! and I shall look forward to more comments from you as you have time. I know those Craver children take up a lot of yours!
And I agree - sometimes the trials are hard and sometimes soft. I wonder how it all fits together wtih Lorenzo's comments about the clay and whether the "hardness" or "softness" of the pressure has to do with the malleableness (I hope that's really a word) of the clay. Right now I don't think I am malleable at all - so perhpas it's back into the soaking bucket for me!
hm, Susan, Good stuff here. God's faithfulness and our submission come to mind for me, here.
If we'll just submit we can count on God's faithfulness.
And God's faithfulness helps us to submit.
Lorenzothellama was helpful for me in this, as well.
Sometimes clay just isn't ready to be used. The best thrown pots are made out of clay that has been recycled a few times. New clay, although it is pure and lump free, just doesn't work so well as clay that has been through the water, kneaded, used, and returned to the water for recycling. Everything in the right time.
People who have been 'through the mill' very often have a deeper understanding of life than people who have sailed through life without problems and difficulties.
A Macc lass is a girl that lives or has lived in the small market town of Macclesfield. That is my nearest town. A Stocky lass is a girl who lives in Stockport.
I love Anonomous Jack's comments on my blog about Stockport compared to Manny. (Manchester). He is so absolutely right. Stockport is a bit of a dump really, but I love it, because it is a real place with real people.
LtL.
I linked you on my blogroll...
Hmm. I read this when you posted it, but never came back to respond. There was a lot to chew on. I guess I just chewed and swallowed. It was good.
I love the play-doh analogy--mainly because it puts God in the role of a playful child. Sometimes we take creation so seriously, we forget that God creates out of joy and love. It is work, sure, but not factory work.
Being created in the image of Jesus is a metaphor that has always given me trouble. If taken too far, I imagine this world of mindless, generic Jesus clones. Sometimes I think our churches encourage that view.
But when God makes me like Jesus he changes out my crusty old play-doh for something new and wonderful and Jesus-like. Then he shapes that new stuff into something that is also somehow uniquely me.
Or am I just too American and individualistic for my own good?
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