The past few days I've had a lot of time to reflect and really think about what's been going on in my life and where I am right now. I thought about Adam and how in Genesis 2:7 God created him from the dust. When I think about how intricate and complex the human body is and the fact that it was all sculpted out of dust... that's mind blowing!! I think sometimes we don't really think about how amazing and absolutely breathtaking our God really is. His creativity alone leaves me speechless...
So I'm thinking about this dirt and I wondered if God stopped and started over at any time while he was making Adam... just questions I ask when reading and studying. I like to look at the details that are included and the ones that are left out.. You never know what God might reveal. So I thought about that dirt and how it's like us now.
Isaiah 64:8 says that we are the clay, He is the potter and we're the work of His hand. So I began to to think about the process the clay goes through before it becomes a vessel... First the clay is usually cut off from a larger piece. Sounds like Isolation to me!! Then the clay is milled or kneaded to work out the air bubbles, a process called wedging. It's kind of like when olives are pressed to make oil... This process is important because the air bubbles will become a problem once it's on the potter's wheel.
During that time of isolation God is always working things out of us that will hinder us in the next level or keep us from advancing at all. It may be a sharp tongue, lying, gossip, stealing, cheating, a ton of different things. After all the air is worked out the plates in the clay align and it's easier to mold on the wheel. I don't know about you, but after a season of isolation I'm much more willing and able to do be obedient. My mind is clear, I'm not being pulled in a thousand directions, and I'm usually more focused.
Then comes the potter's wheel. A moistened lump of clay is placed on the wheel and spun to being the shaping process. Sometimes the clay is smashed and the shaping process starts all over again. The speed and timing of the wheel have to be just right in order for the clay to be thrown evenly... in other words, we're on His time and moving at His pace not ours. I've seen a completed (or what I thought looked complete) project get smashed on the wheel. I was a bit devastated! I remember looking and thinking, but it was done, what's wrong with it? They did all that work just to smash it... It's not always because it wasn't a good vase or bowl, or whatever but because the creator decided it needed to be something different. A pitcher and a cup have the same general purpose but the pitcher not only holds, it distributes to other cups.
I feel like the same thing happens to us when we're on the wheel. We're molded to a place of completion for each assignment and season but once that's up.... BAM! We're smashed down and molded into a new vessel to be used for something different. Each time God gives us an assignment we have to be able to carry the weight of it. As we move from glory to glory to glory and new places in Him, the capacity of our vessel has to change. When we're babes, we may only hold a spoonful of revelation but as we grow that capacity expands to a tablespoon, a 1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, 3/4 cup and so on... If the vessel doesn't expand how can we possibly have the capacity to hold revelation, purpose, destiny, and still have room for God to stretch out in us?
He's constantly molding us and shaping us and knocking out those air bubbles. We're constantly evolving into new vessels. I love it!! It's not always the best feeling in the world, but it's so worth it. Think of it this way....If God has called you to pour into others but right now you're a bowl because you've been in a season of receiving you've gotta be reshaped to have a spout so you can now pour out with precision. You can pour out of a bowl, but not with the same accuracy and precision you can pour with a pitcher. So next time you feel pressure in certain areas of your life remember you may be in the process of being molded for a different assignment. I pray that you would be encouraged in your wedging process and not get frustrated when the smashing time comes. It's only to make us better! Be blessed!
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