El Roi (Acts 15:18, 2 Cor. 4)

“Known unto God are all his works 

from the beginning of the world.”

Acts 15:18

      Nothing is hidden from God. Not only is He all-powerful (omnipotent), but He is also all-knowing (omniscient). Before He made anything, He already knew what it would become. Knowing this about His nature, it continues to astound me He made the world and all that is in it knowing what it would cost Him personally. But He did!

      Nothing hidden. God knows what He is making before He makes it, and then He carefully bends it to His will to fit His design in the creation process. He sees.

      Playing with clay (I say playing because I am an amateur by all definitions of the word) has helped me better understand the Potter in ways I never expected.  I quickly learned in that first wheel class that raising a vessel from a lump of clay is no easy task, especially for an inexperienced potter. What others made to look so easy, I soon learned was a dance delicate in its nature, sometimes resulting in terrible deformities in a piece, which in the beginning I always tried to salvage, overvaluing and over- appreciating my own feeble creative efforts. Occasionally, the dance wobbled towards total destruction, the piece beyond salvation, collapsing as it spun on the wheel. Other times the clay cooperated reluctantly, and the result was a passable bowl or plate or other very small vessel. Once or twice, the dance at the wheel went smoothly, and I found pleasure in something I created.

      God is no rank amateur. He makes nothing that is not to His specifications. He weighs His clay before creating and knows what He is making and He knows how to carefully raise it up from the dust of the earth into a finished product that will bring Him glory. What I am learning is that God’s power is infinite beyond my ability to understand, yet at the same time it is gentle and allows the clay its own will, freely dancing away toward destruction if that is its bent. 

      Sometimes, His plan involves rescuing a flailing piece that will respond to His gentle nudges. That piece of clay responds, repents from its waywardness, and comes back to center. Sometimes the clay flails away from His gentle correction, and His plan involves the total breaking down of anything recognizable, and the piece seems totally destroyed; yet in the smashing back down, the resting, that clay that had resisted His guidance in turning may be made into a glorious vessel even more worthy because God redeemed it from total destruction and guided and shaped it through the reclaiming process. 

      Sometimes the clay resists and refuses to submit to the Potter’s hand. At that point, it is His choice whether or not to recycle the clay and try again. Sometimes, a piece comes off the wheel and is beautiful, but when it is fired, the problems unseen by human eyes, causes it to crack or blow up because of air pockets that weren’t worked out before the creation process began. Some clay just seems more willful and less pliable, resisting all efforts at shaping.

      God is powerful AND just, sovereign YET compassionate, holy AND merciful, awesome YET approachable because of Christ’s work in us. He is the ultimate Potter able to create and know the beginning from the end and just what it takes to center the clay (freed from impurities by His work) and shape it into a vessel that will reflect the grandeur and exceeding greatness of His power even in its humility (2 Cor. 4:8-9). 

      A great deal of the finished product depends on the clay, but even more on the Potter, whose knowledge and experience and command and direction turn the clay into something of value. The untested lump of clay sitting on a wheel lacks the value of the finished piece that comes from the Potter’s vision and brings the Potter glory. 

      Nothing is hidden from God. Clay is nothing without the Potter. The Potter knows what He is making and bends all to His will. Will you submit to the work of His hands in your life?

This piece is an excerpt from a devotional I am working on currently. My prayer is that you will take a few minutes to read and also meditate on 2 Corinthians 4 in light of who God is and what He is doing to shape your life. Don't forget that the treasure of Christ is housed in our feeble jars of clay, showcasing God's work in us for His glory.