Seek First: Partnering with the Potter

For those of you who have just dropped by, I’m digging for treasure in God’s Word this month. Matthew 6:33 promises, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I think that “all these things” includes the treasures I’m seeking in the diaper pail –the jewels of joy, nuggets of wisdom and pearls of peace–but before I seek the gems, I must seek the Giver of good gifts (James 1:17). I’d be honored if you’d join me!

The call to surrender to the Potter is not a suggestion to ditch all of our responsibilities as parents. More accurately, this type of surrender is an invitation for finite, imperfect parents to partner with a perfect and infinitely wise Creator. It means crumpling up of the “five-year plan” and “twenty-five-year plan” for our children’s lives and a humbly asking God to write the itinerary. This kind of surrender is not a hands-off approach to parenthood; rather a “guide my hands” kind of prayer day in and day out.

There’s a scene from the 1990 movie Ghost that paints a picture of what our partnership with the Lord can look like. In this supernatural love story, Demi Moore’s character is sitting at her potter’s wheel dreaming of her deceased love. Suddenly, the ghost of her lover, played by Patrick Swayze, appears behind her as she works. Unaware of her beloved’s presence, the woman continues to shape the clay on the wheel. In a gesture of ultimate love, the ghost-lover tenderly reaches around Demi Moore’s character and puts his hands over hers. With gentle leading, he uses his hands to guide hers as they shape a masterpiece on the potter’s wheel together.

While the movie scene is a favorite of hopeless romantics, the image at the potter’s wheel paints a vivid picture of our partnership with God. The Lord has placed a slab of clay, a unique child, into our hands. The clay is His; therefore, God already knows what the final masterpiece will be. He could just leave us in the corner of the studio as spectators only; instead, He invites us to sit at the potter’s wheel. Then He lovingly sends a ghost- the Holy Ghost in fact- to guide our hands as we shape the clay into His intended masterpiece. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the unsurpassed wisdom of God, our children are shaped into one-of-a-kind treasures.

Once we willingly slip our hands under the Potter’s, we find strength to stay at the wheel until the masterpiece is finished. In his book, Intense moments with the Savior, Ken Gire writes, “I’ve learned my strength is not found in how intensely I struggle… but in how completely I surrender.”

This week, let’s seek God first and learn what His Word has to say about partnering with the Perfect Potter.