The Business of Changing Things – Exquisite Beauty from Out of the Fire

Isaiah 64:8 “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father, We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

God is in the business of changing things. He can take what is ugly and transform it into something beautiful and useful!

Everything was quiet when I stepped into our event center to take a peek at the items being sold at our auction last week. I love this peaceful time because I can stroll up and down the aisles examining the interesting items that are selling without being interrupted. I am never disappointed as there is always something that catches my fancy.

This time I approached some boxes that were full of ugly white plaster things. Upon further investigation I realized they were ceramic molds. Directly behind them stood a kiln used to heat and change the medium entombed in the chalky white shell into something beautiful and worthy of displaying on a shelf or glass cabinet.

I wondered at the hours the artist must have spent dreaming up ideas, preparing materials, heating the kiln, and waiting until the treasures were ready to be painted and admired. What an in-depth process must happen before the final product is ready to be displayed!

Kiln for making ceramics

How appropriate that the Bible compares mankind to clay.

God, the Master Potter, took the dust of the ground and perfectly molded the first man and woman in the image of God Himself. But one day Adam & Eve decided to disobey God’s explicit instructions. They ate a piece of fruit that God had forbidden. From that time on sin entered the world, and passed to each following generation, ruining the perfection of His creation. This sin-problem, the cause for all wickedness, pain and death, escapes nobody. Yet, God is in the business of changing things!

Just like an artist takes a clump of ugly clay and transforms it into something beautiful, God has a process for making mankind fit for His kingdom. He sent His only Son to go through the fires of hell for us securing our freedom from this sentence of death. Those who believe in Christ are a new creation – the old has gone and the new has come.

After receiving Christ as Savior a believer is made right with God Who then begins a transformation process in their lives. In love, our heavenly Father searches our hearts for traces of the old sinful habits and thought patterns and puts us through a refining process to transform us into the image of His Son. The process is not always pleasant, but the end result is amazing.

Yet so often human clay doesn’t trust the Potter. We struggle against His technique as if we knew better. We don’t like the pressure and the heat we must undergo for our beauty to shine. If only we could see past the ugly molds and the fiery kiln we might see what I saw.

Handpainted Ceramic

At the front of the event center were tables of lovely ceramics, glass and china. Each of these delicate beauties endured a complicated process in order to exhibit such elegance. If a human artist could show such wisdom to produce this beauty then why can’t we trust our Master Potter’s love and wisdom? His ways are not our ways nor are His thoughts our thoughts. His skill and understanding are far greater than we could ever imagine. The end product of transformed lives is the proof that He knows what He is doing!

When going through a trial or difficulty that we don’t understand may we all keep in mind that our Master Potter is transforming us. Each painful experience is just a step in the exquisite final product that He has planned. He loves us dearly and only does what is best because we are the work of His hand. He is in the business of changing things and our lives will sparkle in the showcase of eternity as we display His glory.

Love,

Mama