In the Hands of the Potter - Casting Crowns

Are we shape-able?

I don't know a ton about ceramics and the art of making awesome clay things. When I was young, in an effort to keep me from summer boredom I think, my parents signed me up for a couple of pottery classes. They were a lot of fun, although I was honestly terrible at it. What I envisioned in my head rarely became a reality. But I do remember some of the basics.

Clay is an amazing material. Too wet, it becomes slippery, it won't hold its shape, it's not sturdy. Any adjustment causes the pottery you were making to completely lose its form. Too dry and it becomes brittle, breaking easily. Adjustments are no longer possible if you want to keep the pot whole. At either end of the spectrum it can't be formed into something new, either because it won't bend that way, or because it won't stay that way. 

And this morning it got me thinking... where am I on that spectrum? Am I so fluid that when someone pushes on me I flop over? Am I too rigid, to where I can't be reshaped or reformed? I find in my life that I hesitate to engage with people on either end of this spectrum. People who will not push back, won't stay true to their own convictions, who will simply cave to whatever pushes on them are difficult to talk to, for fear of something you say causing them to swing too far. People who are so firm that there is no room for conversation are difficult to talk to, for fear of hitting up against something that will cause them to shut down, or break. 

So how are you doing in the area of spiritual water saturation? Are you diluted to the point of slopping every where when God tries to make a course correction? Are you so dry that you will break if God asks something of you? 

I'm all alone with my questions, I'm dry and cracked open, and I thirst for You

I remember a conversation with our ceramics teacher at school. What do you do with the dried out clay? Is it garbage? No, she said. Break it up, soak it in water, and it will turn back into clay that can be used. I know from experience that the same is true with wet clay. Let it sit and it will eventually dry out enough to be usable. 

Where are you on this spectrum? In the Hands of the Potter, how useful are you? Do you need to be left in the sun (Son?) to dry out, to remove some of the water of the world, so that God can shape and use you to make a beautiful creation useful to Him? Or, do you need to be broken up, have some Holy water poured over you, and be worked until you are ready to be shaped? 

Friends, both of these are painful processes. But, the other side will be so worth it. Lord, make me shape-able by your master Hands. When my world is breaking me, Your love is shaping me, and now the enemy is afraid of what You're making me.

And as I fall apart

Come flood this desert heart

Fall like the rain, Living Water

And I know Your way is best

Lord, help me find my rest

And I'll be the clay

In the Hands of the Potter

I still remember when I heard You call me by name

I'd follow You anywhere, knew I could trust You in anything

But now sorrow beats down on me, waiting for You to come through

I'm all alone with my questions, I'm dry and cracked open

And I thirst for You

And as I fall apart

Come flood this desert heart

Fall like the rain, Living Water

And I know Your way is best

Lord, help me find my rest

And I'll be the clay

In the Hands of the Potter

My world is spinning, my life seems so out of control

Nailed, scarred hands tell the story of love that will never let go of me

Through the sunshine or rain, I know where my hope is found

What You started in me, I know You will complete from the inside out

And as I fall apart

Come flood this desert heart

Fall like the rain, Living Water

And I know Your way is best

Lord, help me find my rest

And I'll be the clay

In the Hands of the Potter

My world is breaking me, Your love is shaping me

And now the enemy is afraid of what You're making me

When my world is breaking me, Your love is shaping me

And now the enemy is afraid of what You're making me

My world is breaking me, Your love is shaping me

And now the enemy is afraid of what You're making me

And as I fall apart

Come flood this desert heart

Fall like the rain, Living Water

And I know Your way is best

Lord, help me find my rest

And I'll be the clay

In the Hands of the Potter

And I'll be the clay

In the Hands of the Potter

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Mark Hall / Jonathan Smith

In the Hands of the Potter lyrics © Essential Music Publishing