So for this month’s background I was trying to think of what to design. And I looked over to see some of our ceramic dishes. And it started me thinking about pottery and references in the Bible. Looking up “pottery” there actually is around 9 passages that mention it. Which was surprising to me. Which brought me to the passage in Isaiah. The context of this passage is that God is talking to King Cyrus who actually didn’t know who this God guy was. But God basically was telling him in this passage that God is going to use him to to defeat other nations for the sake of Israel.

So looking for the analogy we start in verse 9:

“Open up, heavens, and rain.
    Clouds, pour out buckets of my goodness!
Loosen up, earth, and bloom salvation;
    sprout right living.
    I, God, generate all this.
But doom to you who fight your Maker—
    you’re a pot at odds with the potter!
Does clay talk back to the potter:
    ‘What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’
Thus God, The Holy of Israel, Israel’s Maker, says:
    “Do you question who or what I’m making?
    Are you telling me what I can or cannot do?
I made earth,
    and I created man and woman to live on it.
I handcrafted the skies
    and direct all the constellations in their turnings.
And now I’ve got Cyrus on the move.
    I’ve rolled out the red carpet before him.
He will build my city.
    He will bring home my exiles.
I didn’t hire him to do this. I told him.
    I, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”

This passage reminds me a lot of Job’s story. (Which is one of my favs). It basically goes into how God is holy and created the heavens and earth and everything in them. It deals with this difficult question of why does difficult things happen.

In the age of technology and social media our teenagers and kids struggle so much with self esteem and self doubt. But I think it is actually something that people of all ages deal with. We can feel like we are a piece of pottery that maybe is a little dented, or a little worn. Maybe we feel like our clay is too thick, maybe we have a chip, or maybe we’re lumpier than we think we should be. We can say to God (our maker): “What are you doing? What clumsy fingers!’. But we have to grapple with this reality that God has a reason. He is the God who created everything. And the reality is “He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). You may feel like you aren’t the best piece of pottery, but God looks at you and says something different.

He says instead that you are “fearfully and wonderfully made”. His work “works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139).

I hope this background can be a reminder that the creator that made you made the universe. Everything in it. From planets, to small sparrows… he doesn’t make mistakes. He is an omnipresent, omnipotent, and omnipowerful God. He created the heavens and the earth, and he sent his son to die for you. I guarantee you he doesn’t just send a son to die for a piece of pottery he doesn’t care for. Go forward knowing full well that you are made in his image and deeply loved. No matter what the world may say. Remember… you are fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139).