Episode 02: Mold Me, Make Me
Weโre here to help you learn and grow, so naturally, we share affiliate links for products that we use and love. When you click on one of these links, we will earn a small amount of money, at no additional cost to you, which weโll use towards keeping the lights on here! You can read our full disclaimer here.
LISTENING TIME: 13:01
Hi, welcome to Episode 02: Mold Me, Make Me of the Let’s Grow Podcast with Bree Blum!
In this episode, we’ll learn what birthday gifts, getting muddy, and Jesus has in common.
We’re back in the Garden of Eden this week, but this time we’re digging deeper into the Word and taking a look at what it means to live within God’s will for our lives.
Intentional Filling
Wabi-sabi
Genesis 2:4-6
Genesis 2:7
Adamah vs. Adam
Jeremiah 1:5
Jeremiah 18:1-6
Tea Cup Story (original source unknown)
Transcript of Episode 02 : Mold Me, Make Me
Several years ago, I went together with my Dad to buy my Mom a birthday gift. Little did I know that deciding to sign her up for a pottery class would end up being as much a gift to myself as it was to her. My dad was certain she would not go alone, so he signed me up as well, and Iโm forever grateful.
I mean think about it, how often do we have permission to play with mud as an adult?
We attended our first class and quickly learned that there was a knack to this craft. One that was not a God-given talent that either of us possessed. And we quickly dubbed ourselves the Queen and Princess of Wabi-sabi โ which is the Japanese view centered on the acceptance of imperfection. But over time we learned new techniques and ways to approach our time sitting before the wheel and slowly we began to improve.
Eventually, not every pot came out looking like a twisted mess.
When working with clay on a wheel, the most crucial part is centering it. This takes a lot of practice and patience as you work with the elements of clay, water, and the centrifugal force of the spinning wheel. Itโs sometimes a small miracle if you can get a mound of clay to cooperate.
But with enough practice, you can take something that looks like a ball of wet clay and form it into something aesthetically pleasing to the eye.
You know, weโre a lot like this ball of clay. In fact, Scripture tells us that God is our Potter and we are His clay. From the beginning of time, God has been fashioning us from a bit of wet dirt and transforming us into beautiful creations.
In Genesis 2, verses 4-6 say,
When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land.
Wet dirt.
In the next verse, we find just how important this compound would be.
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground.
He breathed the breath of life into the manโs nostrils, and the man became a living person.
The Hebrew word for the ground in verse 7 is adamah (Adum-mah).
The Hebrew word for the man created from this wet dirt is adam (Ah-dom).
Due to a large number of elements that are found in both the human body and the Earthโs crust, secular Scientists, as well as Christians, believe that man returns to dust.
In order to return to something, you must go back to the place or state of being. In essence, both secular science and Scripture believe the account that we just read from Genesis.
We are the clay.
[ Sponsored Message ]When I learned one of the most important lessons of pottery, other than centering, is to develop a plan even before sitting down to the wheel, I came to a deeper appreciation of the words in the book of Jeremiah, in Godโs call to him in Ch. 1, vs. 5:
I knew you before I formed you in your motherโs womb.
Before you were born I set you apart.
We also see this carried out later in Ch. 18 when Jeremiah is instructed by God to visit a potter:
The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah, saying, โGo down to the potterโs house and I will speak to you there.โ So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay and started over.
Then the Lord gave me this message: โO Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potterโs hand, so are you in my hand.โ
What we see here in these passages is that Godโs will for our lives was established before we were even created and that if we surrender to His skillful hand, we can be made into His treasured creation.
But often things get in the way of us fully surrendering to His skillful hand, am I right?
We face all kinds of problems, times of sadness, or hardship. We might lose a job or a loved one. We might even feel like weโre losing ourselves. Each experience seems to add another dent to our exterior.
We may be forced to withdraw from others and so we retreat into ourselves. Our lives and our faith become brittle so that we crack under the slightest pressure.
And we begin to believe the lies of the enemy that weโre alone and deserve the punishment. We build a hardened exterior and donโt allow anyone in, not even God.
Letโs take a minute and listen to a story that I came across a few years back that will help us understand what it might be like if we surrender to Godโs willโฆ
[Tea Cup Story]Sweet sister, I challenge you to spend some time talking to the Potterโฆ
Ask for His guidance in trusting Him and surrendering you will to Him so that He mayโฆ
– Smooth out your dents
– Fashion you into a beautiful creation
– And one day He will return to take you home, where youโll shine brightly for Him for all eternity
Let us prayโฆ
O, Father, we are clay in your hands. You breathed the breath of life into our lungs, only after carefully planning each moment of our lives. We thank you, Lord, for the blessings you bring to our lives, but we also thank you for the trials that teach us to rely upon you.
Spirit, we ask that you guide our steps as we seek to follow your prompting more closely. Help us to look for you in each moment, and how you are shaping our lives, from the imperfect vessels that we are, into your glorious creation.
Jesus, we bless your holy name and praise you for the gift of your salvation, that we might one day be able to stand before you, blameless and without flaw. Until that day, may we be a light and a vessel of your grace and peace to all those we meet.
We love you Jesus and it is in your name that we pray. Amen.
Oh, friend, what a blessing it is to share the Word with you today on the Letโs Grow Podcast! Be sure to subscribe to receive future episodes and join us on Facebook and Instagram by searching for Intentional Filling. Weโd love to connect with you!
Be sure to check out our show notes for links to everything Iโve shared today.
God bless, friend! Weโll see you next time. Keep growing!
