Clay Containers

To begin, know that everybody has a belief system. A belief system is basically how you view, process, filter, and structure information you take in.  A belief system can have its basis in science, philosophy, business, and religion for example.

I submit to you that people carry their belief system in the container of their experiences. If life experiences dictate an adjustment to the container, then the contents of the container are adjusted as well. In other words, the belief system conforms to the newly adjusted shape of the container. Of course, metaphors could abound here - the use of water or oil would work for the belief system, as either quickly conforms to its container. If something stressful happens in our life, we could even experience a crack in our container or even have it shattered entirely. The contents of the container (belief system) escape and may well be impossible to recover.

Let's talk more about the container ... long before clay is fired and hardened, it is turned and shaped (aka thrown - interesting concept term, I think, but I digress). That shaping takes place in the potter's hands so it results in whatever the potter desires it to be. Once the potter is satisfied with the shape, s/he is ready to fire the work. Now, the temperature for firing done in the typical kiln could range from 1700-2100º F. That's warm!  The heat "matures" the clay (melting it at a molecular level) and the resulting container is suitable to the purpose for which is was shaped.  It is strong, tough and in some ways very similar to stone.

Clay stays malleable until it's fired and it can be reshaped over and over again. An apparent downside though is that, once it's been fired, it cannot, using normal human processes, be reshaped. The best reuse that we can come up with, it seems, is that the container would need to be crushed and then used as a filler or some such thing. Definitely, a lesser use than the original container the potter had designed it to be.

The world treats the broken clay as a cheap commodity ... a filler, of little value.  God, however, sees that broken or crushed material as something to work with. He is able to take something that is broken and of little or no use and supernaturally transform that old, broken, crushed, clay container into something that is malleable once again. Nothing less than a miracle!!  He is restorative and makes that container useful again.

Now, back to the water or oil (belief system) which leaked from the cracked or broken container ... God, again, being the True Miracle Worker uses His Creative Power and creates something out of nothing and refills the container with a fresh belief system. A belief system that is based on His ideas, values, and views. A belief system based on Life and not death, that is renewed and able to influence others.

Are you broken?  Have you felt people have cast you aside as filler?  Look to God for restoration, Life, and a fresh and new belief system based on His ideas, values, and views. He will make you into something that is useful for His purpose. He provides that pathway through His Son, Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter if you don't know Him yet, or if you've known Him for years. The solution is still the same.