Okay . . . so that was a pretty nervy title, right? Well, I'm writing this book, see, and it's about clay. Well, some of it is about clay, at least. Anyway, I looked up all the verses about our being clay in God's hands and how the clay can't possibly say, "Stop forming me!" I also did some research into pottery and pot making in general.
As I watched various pottery experts at the wheel in various YouTube videos, I was struck by two things: (1) the immense skill involved in just stabilizing the clay--let alone turning it into something beautiful and (2) the direction the clay WANTS to go.
One lady mentioned this as she was throwing the clay. She said, "Remember, every piece of clay wants to become a bowl once it's on the wheel. If you want it to be a cylinder, you are really going to have to fight against its desire." The centrifugal force of the wheel is to blame for this. On the other hand, if you want to make a plate, you really have to focus on guiding the center of the clay out to the outer rim without it all peeling up in your hands. Once you successfully guide it out to the outer rim, you have to REALLY focus on pulling the sides up and supporting them as you pull out without the whole thing flopping over onto the wheel because of gravity. Besides all that, you have to keep the clay moist, keep it centered, keep it pliable, keep it free from bubbles and impurities--at all times. So many things to think about. So many things that could go wrong if one of them is off. Yet, if everything is in sync, you get a beautiful piece of pottery at the end.
Most of this I knew or could have guessed, but I guess what hit me was this: True, the clay keeps pushing out and against the potter; however, that's not always a bad thing. If the clay didn't push at all, nothing would ever happen.
It just hit me after watching these few videos and thinking about freewill and predestination and the fact that we are compared to clay so often in the Bible. Could this be the answer to the whole thing? It just seems to me that this picture answers a lot of questions. Of course the Potter is in supreme control, yet . . . we can either be workable or unworkable. It's up to us.
Besides that . . . clay doesn't actually have a freewill. But if something so inanimate can mimic a freewill in such a clear way just by scientifically mathematical forces, then . . . our real freewill must at least be as significant in the grand scheme of things or else no one would have suggested this analogy.
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5 comments:
Wow, very insightful. My pastor was preaching about this yesterday about us being workable or unworkable. He used Pharoah as an example. In Genesis, it says several times that God hardened his heart, but Pharoah's heart was already hard. When God allowed the different plagues and tried to get Pharoah to change, he refused and his heart got harder.
Thanks for the insight.
Joy Lee
hey joy! it definitely is a sobering thought. i mean, not just the concept that God gives grace to those He wants to give to, but also that we are given the chance to accept it or not.
if pharoah hadn't made that first choice to harden his own heart, God wouldn't have made it harder b/c God is not now--nor has He ever been--about creating MORE enemies. however, since He is in control, He uses people to their fullest extent! if we choose to give Him a mustard seed's worth of faith, He will allow us to move mountains. however (and this is the most sobering...to the point of being really scary) if we reject Him, He will take it to whatever degree that will give Him the most glory!
romans 9, baby! superbly good point! thanks!
This is such a hot topic!!!!! I really like your clay analogy and I truly think that you are onto something here. Especially the decision to be workable or unworkable - to accept or to not accept. Interesting that there would be such parellels.
On a side note. I have started listening to a sermon on predestination. One thing the pastor said that struck me was that in a sense we are predestined b/c God is able to look into the future and see who will choose Him and as a result of that choice he extends His hand to them.
i've heard that too. but i do understand why die-hard calvinists (and even milder reformers) have a problem with it, and here's why: b/c God has an active hand in everything, and so...that active hand is more than just a prior knowledge. it's more than just Him knowing what will happen and so then Him acting on that information.
it's just something that we can't comprehend. that a Being could be totally in control, yet totally let us have freewill...that's why the clay thing really helped me start to understand it. we should be working together, but if we (the people) aren't workable, then...God isn't going to force us.
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