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

Thwump!  Thwump!  Thwump!  Have you ever taken a pottery class?  One of the first things we had to do when I was taking pottery was to pound the clay.  The instructor taught us to lift up the ball of clay and slam it down hard on the table, over and over again.  We were eager to get to the fun part of making beautiful pots, but first, we had to pound that clay.  Thwump!  Thwump!  Thwump!  Why?  To pummel all the air bubbles out that were concealed in the clay.  Otherwise, if we created a beautiful object without first removing the air bubbles, when we fired it, the unseen air would expand and then force its way out of the clay, perhaps exploding the whole pot, and definitely ruining whatever we had made.  (My kids tell me that now you can buy clay that already had the air bubbles pounded out, but the point is, somebody had to do it.)

Why am I telling you this?  Because I have been that clay, slammed down repeatedly by the hand of the potter, and I have to tell you, I’m learning to be grateful for it.

Do you know that old song, “you are the potter; I am the clay.  Mold me and make me; this is what I pray”?

I used to sing that, imagining God making me into some beautiful, useful vessel that would be pleasing to Him.  But then I learned that there is a cost to that.  Just like the clay needs to be pounded so that it won’t be destroyed in the kiln, so I needed to experience some of God’s pounding in my own life, so that I could be pleasing to him.

Let me clarify, it’s not that that I was suffering greatly or that things were going terribly wrong in my life.  Rather, there were very specific challenges that highlighted sinful attitudes in me that God wanted to eliminate (such as pride or fear of man).  While it was painful, I could see that God was working for good.  In these situations, I’m learning to recognize His hand and welcome what He is doing.  Now I am more quickly able to identify the air bubbles that are being worked out and to be less troubled about the pounding.  I’m learning to trust God’s hand at work in me.