From Clay Pot to Mosaic Masterpiece
Have you heard the story of God as the potter and us as the clay? Each time I’ve heard, it weaves a picture in my mind of God leaning over the potter’s wheel, and lovingly creating us as a clay vessel to be filled up and used. He gently molds and sculpts the clay into a beautiful piece of pottery. It’s such a calm, tranquil, easy picture. Like watching the breeze gently blow the tops of wheat across a vast field as the sun sets on the horizon. It brings a peaceful feeling thinking we were made by the potter so distinctively and deliberately.
If I only thought this far about being created as a clay vessel, it would be disturbing when trials of life entered and caused a piece of me to chip or brake. If I’ve lived life thinking that I was complete and whole from the moment created then I would have no reason for brokenness. Because the calm idea of being created doesn’t allow for the possibility that pottery made for utilitarian use might need to be broken.
The story of the potter beautifully manipulating clay into a piece of pottery with gentle hands is a true representation of God creating us. What we often forget is that the potter sometimes sees He has created a lopsided vessel and smashes it down to start again. And He being the potter has the right to smash that clay or even dispose of it if he so desires.
But scripture doesn’t paint the picture of a lifelong unbroken vessel. And just because when finished at the potter’s wheel He has created a beautiful piece of utilitarian pottery, it doesn’t mean he is finished molding and changing us.
Isaiah 64:8 calls us the clay in the potter’s hand. It shows God as the potter and us as the work of His hands. Then in Jeremiah 18 we see God speaking to the prophet concerning his rights is as our creator. As the creator of life He has the right to tear down, uproot or build up his kingdom in whatever way he deems fit. His kingdom includes us as individuals, He has the right to take us as utilitarian clay vessels and chip or break us in whatever way he wants.
Don’t mistake my message. God is not in the business of smashing or breaking us because He is the big guy in charge and it’s His right. In fact it is circumstances of life and the sin of others that often cause our brokenness, not the hand of God. He sometimes will intervene when we pray, but that too is at His discretion. However, every circumstance we encounter absolutely will be something used by God to mold us, better us and help others if we allow it.
What if we took the picture of being created as clay utilitarian vessel a step further and assumed that God wasn’t finished? What if we were always meant to be broken? What if God’s intention for our life is to become a mosaic in the image of Jesus Christ, not just a clay pot, clay plate, or clay cup?
When creating, maybe God placed me on the wheel and made me as a red plate, my husband as a blue saucer and you as a white tea cup. He sent Jesus to die for us and become our model. Telling us to mold ourselves into the image of Jesus Christ. That is our goal, to become a mosaic in the image of Jesus. But it takes many different colors of broken pottery to create a mosaic. It takes broken pieces to create that kind of masterpiece. What if being a utilitarian white tea cup with one purpose, isn’t all you were created for? Maybe serving hot beverages isn’t your final purpose. What if in your brokenness you became a priceless work of art?
What if I needed a broken piece of your white tea cup to fill just the right space in my own mosaic? Maybe it’s even a tiny piece which requires you to be shattered. It’s in the sharing of your shattered pieces, your story, that enables me to become whole. Your brokenness fills in my mosaic and makes me more in the image of Jesus.
No one escapes this earth without hurt feelings, broken promises, hard times, difficult circumstances, ugly encounters, health problems, grief, loss and suffering. We all get broken. The problem isn’t that we get broken. The problem is we don’t want to be broken and believe we shouldn’t be broken. Our expectations are the problem. We believe we deserve better. We deserve to remain pristine and undamaged.
Reality is different than our expectations. The reality is we were meant to be molded into the image of Jesus and the only way there is brokenness. We all need each other. We need one another’s God stories. I need to see your brokenness and the glory of God through your story. And you need to see mine. It’s in being transparent and sharing with one another, each of us fills in the needed pieces of our mosaic.
To act upon this reality and realize your new purpose takes a shift in thinking. It takes a shift in doing. It takes a decision to take every struggle and hardship to God with a new mindset. To approach God everyday with questions like: What will you teach me in my struggles today? What pieces of my pottery can I pass on today? What answers have you given me that another person needs? How can I make someone else whole?
We must share our broken pieces because it is only when we give ourselves away that we too become whole.