Verse: Jeremiah 18:6 Supporting verses: Isaiah 43:19, Luke 13:6-10 Written By: Kaye Waul
Sometimes it’s difficult to understand what God means because His mind and ways are so much higher; but here we have God revealing, in a way we can understand, the plans he has for his people. Thank you Lord. So the prophet Jeremiah hears God say, “Go down to the potter’s house I want to talk to you there.” Jeremiah goes and witnesses the potter making a vessel, probably to store water or wine, and it gets marred in the potter’s hand. Marred means to disfigure, ruin or cause a blemish. But, instead of getting frustrated or completely abandoning the project, the potter makes it again into another vessel, into another good vessel. And the Lord says to Jeremiah can He not do the same with his people? For like the potter, they are in his hand. Pottery isn’t an easy task. It is heavily labor intensive and prep work. You are filled with dirt from head to toe, lifting heavy bags of unrefined clay, kneading and softening and finding clay in every crevice of your body. You then sit for hours to mold a lump of clay into bowls, dishes, trinkets and even sculptures. It is then hardened using a fire kiln and glazed as a finishing touch.
It’s definitely a labor of love because clay is delicate as it is strong. One wrong move while it’s still damp and your hours of hard work can fall flat just because you brushed against it. But the beauty in pottery is, no matter at what stage the vessel is broken, it can be made anew.
This is God’s plan for us. In all the other arts, if your creation is broken or disfigured, you kind of have to toss it out. You can try to save it but it would be obvious that the end result is not what was initially imagined. But in pottery, sometimes a broken vessel is exactly what you needed. In Japan they love a broken vessel so they can use a technique called kintsugi. Kintsugi which translates to “golden repair", is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with gold, silver, or platinum. They do this with the understanding that the object is more beautiful because it has been broken. Like the art of kintsugi, God repairs the brokenness in our lives and makes us more beautiful through the process. In this life people will cast you aside and toss you out because of your imperfections, because you have scars, because you have been marred. But think of the parable of the fig tree that bore no fruit for three years, and the owner called it a waste of the soil but the gardener said, “..let me dig around it, let me fertilize it, let me care for it.” The potter says he can make out of you a new thing, a good vessel; a better vessel than what you had pictured for yourself. He can fill your brokenness, your scars, your blemishes, your shortcomings with gold, silver and platinum. The potter says you are in his hand. So when you think it’s over for you, remind yourself, “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the Lord . “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel! '
The Solid Ground
Verse: Psalm 40: 1-2 NKJV Supporting verses: Psalm 18:2, Psalm 46 Written By: Kaye Waul
One thing with David, no matter what is going wrong or right, he will call upon the Lord. And rightfully so because the call to be king was not easy for him and he was persecuted often. But he knew how to seek El Tsuri – The Rock. In this psalm, David describes the hardships he faced as a horrible pit and miry clay. Miry means muddy or soggy. Consisting of a deep, wet, sticky earth that is difficult to move through. As I read through this psalm, the Lord said, “Quicksand”. Then He revealed this to me. In order to escape being stuck in quicksand, survivalists recommend to first remain calm. Panicking and acting irrationally will only sink you deeper. The next step is to lay flat because it provides more surface area. Instead of an upright stick sinking quickly, you spread out yourself by laying flat to slow down the process of sinking which buys you extra time on the clock. The third step is to crawl and push with your feet until you hit solid ground or a solid structure to hold on to. Lastly, once you’ve found something solid, pull up until your legs make contact with solid ground.
By this psalm, David gives us the same survival steps. When life throws you in a pit, you first wait patiently for the lord. This is the same as remaining calm when you’re caught in physical quicksand. Next David said the Lord heard his cry and inclined to him. In the bible, when someone cries out to the Lord, it describes it as them prostrating themselves before the Lord. To prostrate means to lay stretched out and flat on the ground (sounds familiar?). Standing upright in pride and arrogance in your pit will only aid in sink you further. Humility is needed to survive. This is our next step to lay flat in physical quicksand to reduce sinking. David then says the Lord brought him out of the pit, out of the clay, and set his feet upon a rock. This is the last step to escape quicksand. To push until you hit solid ground. God is the solid structure to hold onto in order to escape the pit. He is the solid ground. El Tsuri is his name for only He is the true symbol of strength, security and refuge. Which is also why any house or foundation built on Him, the rock, will be safe from calamity when the rain comes. And the rain shall surely come. So remember to follow these essential survival tips and maybe even have on your fridge for easy access. So when the rain comes remind yourself of David’s words, “I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps.” Amen.
