TITLE: The Potter's Wheel 10-30-13 By Cynthia G. Peoples 10/30/13 |
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The Potter’s Wheel
By: Cynthia Peoples
A few years ago I went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to see the Passion Play. As soon as we entered the gate there was a gentleman dressed up like Jesus and he was actually creating a piece of art on a potter’s wheel. As he worked he told the story of how God created us and wants to mold and make us into what He wants us to be. I watched as the potter’s hands gently stroked the clay, slowly but surely as the wheel continually turned. While I stood there simply amazed, all I could think about was how God created us from the dust, breathed life into us and wants to mold us just like that potter was doing right there in front of my eyes!
In the book of Jeremiah, God tells us plainly that He is the potter and we are the clay. Even before we were born God had a purpose and a plan for each of us and if we allow Him to do so, He can make us into what He created us to be. The sad part is for most of us it’s a slow and sometime painful journey.
My journey actually began at the age of 12 when I made a public profession of my faith in God. But years later I realized that my profession of faith, at that time, was basically just saying, “Hey, I believe there is a God.” I believed with my head, but not my heart and I sure didn’t express my faith with my life! Then on August 6th, 1989, my life was a mess and I had just enough faith to pick up by bible. I was reading about the woman caught in adultery and all of a sudden I knew I needed God!
I got down on my knees in the middle of my living room floor with my bible opened on my lap and cried out for God to please help me and show me the way! I will never forget His touch. I felt Jesus literally reach down out of heaven and pat me on the head like we might a little child, or in my case it was more like He was petting an old shaggy, stray dog! Then I heard Jesus say, “It’s okay. I understand, now go and sin no more.” Well that very second I became a newborn in Christ and began my spiritual journey. Right then and there God placed me on His potter’s wheel and began to mold me and make me.
Through the next 20 years or so I learned to sit up a little, crawl sometimes, but wasn’t really walking yet. And boy did I fall down and get some bumps and bruises. I’d serve God for a while and then the trials and temptations would come and I’d turn away from Him. I simply had not learned yet how to trust Him more with every aspect of my life. This made me a miserable, miserable person and a pitiful, useless Christian. But God never left me alone. Eventually He would draw me back to Him by the Holy Spirit and I’d grow a little more, bit by bit, piece by piece but still wasn’t near where I needed to be.
Then in September of 2010, God placed me right in the middle of a twelve step recovery program where I went to “minister to others.” Well, once I began studying those 12 biblical principles found in the NLT Life Recovery Bible, God turned my life upside down and inside out! Finally, it all made sense and came together for me. I grew more in 3 years than I had in the previous 20 years!
Presently, I’d say I’m still not where I need to be or want to be on my spiritual journey but I’m sure a lot further than I use to be! And none of us will ever reach our full potential in Christ as long as we are still living on this earth and having to struggle with the daily battles between the flesh and the spirit. I so long for that day when I’ll get a new body, a new life, and live with my Savior for eternity! Thank you sweet Jesus!
Through the daily studying of God’s word; a faithful prayer life; and participation in and thru a local church, God has taught me that Christianity is not just an emotional experience; or believing there is a higher power; it’s not about church membership; or being a good person; or a onetime confession of our faith. It is a daily, personal relationship with our creator God the Father who sent God the Son to die for and redeem us and He does all this thru God the Holy Spirit.
I now think of Christianity like this: God tells us in His word we must be born again. So that means we are a newborn once we accept Christ as our own personal Savior. Well, think of a newborn baby….all they know how to do in the beginning is eat, sleep, and cry out for their needs to be met. Then they have to learn to sit up before they can crawl, then walk, then run, and eventually fly!
Well, we are the same way. We accept Christ and at first all we can do is cry out to Him because even though our spirits are willing, the flesh is weak. So as God begins molding us on His potter’s wheel, we have to learn how to sit up which means we learn to trust in God a little more each day and hopefully we continue to grow daily and will learn to crawl, walk and run! So it’s a growing process one day at a time and sometimes simply one step at a time!
And just like a child, while we are growing up, we’re going to get bumps and bruises, we are going to fail, get discouraged, and sometimes give up. But God tells us once we belong to Him, He will never leave us or forsake us. We are sealed with, thru, and by His Holy Spirit. So when we do fall down, God picks us up, kisses our booboos and sends us on our way.
Have you ever watched a potter at work? Sometimes that clay spinning around on that wheel collapses and the artist has to start all over again. Well that’s what God does for us. Every day Is a new day, a new opportunity to get to know our creator better, draw closer to Him, learn to lean on and trust in Him more and more with every aspect of our daily lives. He is the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega, the potter and we are His clay as long as there is still a breath in us….and even our daily breath is a gift from God. So He’s not through with us as long as we are still breathing so never give up! Daily let Christ put you on His potter’s wheel and mold and make you into what He wants you to be!
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