The Clay

I recently fired some clay pieces in the primitive pit, I dug in my backyard.  Many of the pieces, my grandchildren had made, so I was really not wanting any of those to break in the firing.  As I was standing there feeding the fire and trying to build up the temperature slowly, I had a lot of time to think about things....like pottery and God.  I remembered reading in one of my pottery books that although we all hope all of our pieces will make it through the fire without blowing up, the book said that even the broken pieces have a use.  Adding them to the next firing will help protect the new pieces getting fired. Nothing is wasted in pottery.
I thought about that in relation to our Father and how it is always amazing to me how He uses art to teach me.  He is The Potter and He knows how to heat the fire up slowly, and how much heat we can take at any given time. Sometimes there are elements in the clay that will cause it to break during firing, but this is part of the process of purification. Those parts didn't belong there and would only weaken the vessel.   We can truly rest in the knowledge that nothing is wasted.  All of the pieces that were broken He will use to protect others going through the fire.  If we can look at it that way, we will make ourselves available to Him for that purpose and not sit and mourn the brokenness.  We can rest and rejoice being in The Master's Hand. I know this.

As I excitedly and, not without a little trepidation, began to take the pieces out of the ashes, I found that three of mine had broke, but all of the grand children's were intact!!  But you know what?  I picked up the broken pieces and was very sad for them.  I had no desire to toss them aside, discarding them as if they were trash.  I picked them up with even more gentleness than  the ones that were unbroken.  I truly mourned that I wouldn't get to see them glazed and  functioning as I had planned they would. But I remembered they still have a purpose.  As the potter, I had a plan and my plan didn't work out the way I thought it would.  As The Potter, He has a plan and we can know that His plan and purpose for our lives will prevail.  Nothing is wasted.