The Potter Knows the Clay

This blog has been written for several weeks, but I didn’t feel like it was ready to be shared. At the time I wrote it, so many thoughts were rolling through my mind. Finding the words to adequately express how I felt in the midst of turmoil felt nearly impossible. My mind was telling me I should fear while my heart was urging me to lean on the everlasting arms. When the fire is hot on every side, its hard to look at it believing that God will make a way. My eyes often will tell me that there is no way. Desperately I turned in circles, searching anxiously for an exit, an opening in the fire that would free me from the heat.

Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. The pressure from the inside of the fire feels like more than I can bear, but I’m not holding all of the answers to the questions why. Only the Potter can see the clay and know if its been in the fire long enough. Are there still cracks that need to be fixed? Is it strong enough to come out of the fire? Will it survive, or is it too early yet? Sure, I want Him to reach down and pull me out. Nearly all of me wants to shout, begging Him to turn down the heat, to pull me out of the fire. Then I remember all of the times I’ve prayed for Him to use me. To make me like Him. To mold me. To try me and make me beautiful like gold. To strengthen my faith. It is then that I stop and ask myself, “How did I think He was going to do that?”

A friend sent me a song a little ways back, reminding me that God always knows what we’re going through, where we are, how much we can take. The song was called ‘The Potter Knows the Clay’ and it has been on my mind constantly for days. The chorus goes like this:

But the Potter knows the clay,

how much pressure it can take.

How many times around the wheel,

’til there’s submission to His will.

He’s planned a beautiful design,

but it’ll take some fire and time.

It’s gonna be okay,

because the Potter knows the clay.

It was such a timely reminder, and something I don’t often consider. If He’s the Potter and I’m the clay, then He absolutely knows just the right amount of fire and pressure I can handle. He knows how much I need. He knows that if He takes me out of the fire too soon, I won’t be ready. I looked up a little bit of information on baking clay. One place said something so interesting. “Under baked clay is not only less flexible, it is susceptible to breaking and crumbling.” If He turns down the fire, if He removes me from the fire too soon, He knows I may not be as strong as I need to be. I could crumble if I don’t stay in the fire long enough. Maybe worse, what if I’m not flexible enough? When the Potter tries to mold me, will I bend, or will I break?

He knows the weaknesses that I have. He knows if I need to go around His wheel one, two, half a dozen more times. His masterful hands know where I need to be mended, to be worked on more. He knows the areas of my life that need a little more molding, a little more pressure, to get me where I need to be. His work isn’t for naught. He doesn’t mend and mold without a plan or purpose. He not only has a design, He has a perfect, beautiful blueprint for my life. There’s no part of my life that He didn’t know would go awry, not a day that He didn’t already know would happen. He knows me. He knows my life, my struggles. He knows the mountains I’ve climbed and the valleys I’ve walked through. After all, He was with me every step of the way.

He knows me. He knows how much I can take, what I need to get stronger, to be more like the vessel He wants me to be. He knows how desperate I feel in the fire. He didn’t leave me when the fire got hot. He’s still here with me. He simply can’t remove the heat until I’m ready. If I desire to be more like Him, to be a vessel that He can use, I have to endure some pressure. The pressure isn’t fun, it isn’t comfortable. My growth won’t come in comfort. It is in the fire, the pressure, in the midst of chaos and turmoil that the hands of the Potter can mold me into what He wants me to be.

As always, my words come from a place I’m in, or have been. The fire is hot and feels like it may never end. But I remind myself that He knows me. He has only my best interest in mind. He only wants what is best for me. He’s teaching me, molding me. I just have to hold and trust the Potter’s hand. When He does pull me out of the fire, all I can think about is the blessing, the glory, the way He’s going to use me! The isn’t for nothing! He has a plan for me, to use me. Anointing can’t come without hardship, and more than anything I desire to be an anointed vessel that He can work through.

So no matter what you’re facing or going through, remember that the Potter knows the clay.