If you were with us for last week’s session, you’re already aware that a couple of things worked together to form the basis for this series. The first was my encounter with a passage in the Book of Jeremiah that tells the story of what I’m calling Jeremiah’s “field trip” to a potter’s house. As I explained in Part 1, First Impressions,  I was going through a spiritually challenging period in my life many years ago when God seemed distant and uninvolved. When I read the passage in Jeremiah, I decided to make a field trip of my own to a nearby potter’s shop to see if God might meet with me there like He did for Jeremiah. There I discovered that God packed lessons into his prophet’s field trip that are as profound and powerful now as they were then. But before we move ahead, we should review how the prophet himself began the story. 

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. (Jeremiah 18:1–3 NKJV)

Not a Convenience Store ~
One of the things that was immediately apparent about the potter’s little shop was that it was never meant to be a mini-WalMart, or even like one of those convenience stores you find at gas stations. His whole focus was on different kinds of clay and what could be done with it. His driving passion was to find how many ways clay could be used to make tasks easier, daily life better, and the world more beautiful. But the vessels he made did more than that. They also displayed the creativity and skill of the potter who envisioned them and formed them into being. His products proved that functional tools can also be beautiful works of art. It occurred to me that the potter I was watching was showing me some wonderful things about the very “Potter” that I worship. 

But what captivated my attention most strongly was the transformational power in the potter’s hands. He had an image in his mind from the very beginning, of course, but we couldn’t see it. He had a passion in his heart for what he was making, but we couldn’t feel it. None of what the potter saw or felt could be expressed or revealed without the touch of his hands. As I watched those hands, how could I not think about the astounding thing that happened when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us? The Living God became touchable! Ordinary people got to see the God who had been invisible and touch the God who had been untouchable! In Jesus, the hope and love that seemed so distant and unreachable became close, intimate, inexpressibly glorious, and undeniably real. A simple touch from Him had the power to change everything. A few examples that Matthew recorded for us follow below . . .

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:1–3 NKJV)

Now when Jesus had come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying sick with a fever.  So He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them. (Matthew 8:14–15 NKJV)

So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”  So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. (Matthew 20:32–34 NKJV)

But it isn’t as though God waited until Bethlehem to touch people. In the time before Jesus, God may not have made a regular practice of physically interacting with people like His Son would eventually do, but He was at work in different ways. The words of Nehemiah remind us that our heavenly Potter’s hands were indeed molding and shaping His vessels in those days, as well:

And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me. (Nehemiah 2:8 NKJV)

A Principle at Work ~
There’s a principle involved in this process that we must not miss … The only way the potter had to transform his mound of clay into a useful vessel was to apply pressure to it. And the same principle applies to our heavenly Potter’s work, as well. God has the image of a completed vessel in mind for each of us and a purpose we’re designed to fulfill. And like the earthly potters, God also shapes us and forms us by applying strategic pressure at key places and times in the course of our development. Responding to that pressure is where we tend to run into trouble. 

In the living metaphor playing out at the potter’s house, the clay illustrates what our ideal role in our relationship with God should be. Like the clay, we should yield willingly to His touch and then move in concert with His will. Doing that would result in a smooth and seamless process of fashioning us into the visible, functional expression of the love and creative genius He intended us to be. But doing it isn’t as simple and easy as it may sound.

Uncooperative Material ~
The problem, as we know all too well, is that we’re not mindless, lifeless, metaphorical clay. Like the Potter Himself, we’re alive, too. We have plans, right? And we have passion, too. Unlike the material on the potter’s wheel, the “clay” God has to work with is inherently self-willed, rebellious, and oppositional and has an innate desire to be a vessel made to be served rather than one used to serve others. And those tendencies invite pressures from an enemy who wants to make the vessel unusable. The quandary we often face in a culture where the pressures feel endless and that come from all directions is determining whose hands are behind them. In that regard, there are at least three possibilities. Here’s a suggestion or two that may help:

• • In addition to the directives revealed in His Word, our heavenly Potter applies pressure through things like circumstances, relationships, finances, incidents, episodes, and encounters with others to move, shape, prepare, and equip us. 
  • Of course, Satan and his world system have pressurized the very atmosphere with mechanisms designed to force our minds and bodies into grotesque and perverted imitations of the vessel God designed us to be. Those pressures might feel good in the beginning, but they’re always toxic and destructive in the end.
  • Sometimes we’re the culprit at fault. We create our own  pressure by things like demanding more, avoiding responsibility, engaging in self-deception, being hypocritical, refusing to forgive, being stubborn, and promising things we can’t deliver. 

Check the Biometrics ~ And Check Them ‘Again’!
My suggestion is simply this . . . If you want to know whose hand is working on you, check the fingerprints. The Living God has shown us in His Word who He is, what He’s like, and what He can do, and like our own fingerprints, His aren’t going to change. Our heavenly Potter will never move us toward things He will never approve, accept, or tolerate in His Kingdom. If the pressure seems to be moving us in ways that contradict or deny the nature and character that our Father has clearly revealed, then it’s clearly not from Him. If the spiritual biometrics don’t match those of our heavenly Father, then they’re coming from our own fallen nature or the demonic influence of ungodly and destructive forces at work all around us, and it’s time to stiffen up and resist. 

Challenges and pressures to yield in the wrong direction will come, but there’s a glorious Truth we can cling to. We can be absolutely confident that the Hands that are working on us are stronger than any force seeking to pervert what He’s creating. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Please join us next week as we continue our field trip series and explore what happens when the potter seems to have an “Oops” moment, and it seems like the enemy’s winning.

“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to tweet and share from the quotes below.  Each one links directly back to this article through Twitter . . .

• • • None of what the potter saw or felt could be expressed or revealed without the touch of his hands. Watching, how could I not think about the astounding thing that happened when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us? The Living God became touchable! @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • In Jesus, the hope and love that seemed so distant and unreachable became close, intimate, inexpressibly glorious, and undeniably real. A simple touch from Him had the power to change everything. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • God has the image and purpose of a completed vessel in mind for each of us. Like earthly potters, He shapes and forms us by applying strategic pressure at key places and times in our development. We tend to run into trouble responding to that pressure. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet) 
    • The “clay” that God has to work with is inherently self-willed, rebellious, and oppositional and has an innate desire to be a vessel made to be served rather than one used to serve others. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • If you want to know whose hand is working on you, check the fingerprints. The Living God has shown us in His Word who He is, what He’s like, and what He can do, and like our own fingerprints, His aren’t going to change. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
    • If the spiritual biometrics don’t match those of our heavenly Father, then they’re coming from our own fallen nature or the demonic influence of ungodly and destructive forces at work all around us, and it’s time to stiffen up and resist. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)

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