Made By Hand

I

t is no secret to anyone who knows me that I have no talent for working with my hands.  I often joke that I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler, even if that ruler is nailed down.  Believe me; this is not far from the truth!  No matter how much I want to, I simply don’t have the dexterity or the talent to create things with my hands.  In this area, my brother definitely got the lion’s share!

When Kevin was younger, he took some classes in ceramics from one of our local residents who had a kiln in her home. He enjoyed making all kinds of things, several of which my parents still have and use.  I remember him explaining how a piece of ceramic is made.  First, you have to select a mold, pour mud into it, remove the items from the mold, clean them up, fire them in a kiln, paint them, and fire them one more time.  There are a few other steps as well but this is the basic process.  He made some wonderful pieces and I couldn’t wait to see what he would bring home next.

When he went to college, he majored in art.  One of the courses he took was a pottery class.  He also made some very nice pieces but this time the process was different.  Instead of pouring mud into ready-made molds, he had to take clay and fashion a piece from a design already in his mind.  There were no guidelines to follow, no molds to give shape to the clay, and no pre-determined outcome for the piece.  Every piece was unique because it was made completely by hand.  Kevin could look at the finished product with great pride because he had created it from scratch, making sure that it was just the way he wanted it, and every piece he made was unique.

When it comes to his children, God is not in the ceramic business; he is in the pottery business.  He insists on using his own hands, fashioning us individually, making us just the way he wants us, shaping and molding us into the design he has in mind.  Like the potter, God has a definite design and purpose in mind for each of his creations.  This was something the prophet Jeremiah learned from the very moment God placed a call on his life.

Jeremiah 1:5 records God’s conversation with Jeremiah.  This verse reveals not only Jeremiah’s call but also the purpose for which God created him. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”  If we look very closely into this verse, we will see the plan God had in mind for Jeremiah. 

First, God knew Jeremiah before the he was born.  In fact, God says he knew the prophet long before he was formed.  Let that sink in!  Most of us find it hard to believe that someone takes time to think about us on a regular basis but God states just the opposite here.  He was thinking about Jeremiah before Jeremiah ever existed.  That means that God was planning every detail of his life and preparing Jeremiah for the call and for the purpose God would assign to him.

Second, God has a special plan for Jeremiah, a plan unique to him.  Before his birth, God set Jeremiah apart to accomplish a task and to fulfill a purpose in his great plan.  That purpose was to raise Jeremiah up to be a prophet, not only to Israel, but to the nations.  Jeremiah was not made from a mold; instead he was molded into the man God meant for him to be.

What a wonderful word of encouragement for us today!  God is still in the business of making us into the vessels he wants us to be.  Before we were ever born, before our parents were born or their parents were born, God already had plans for us.  He wants to mold us and shape us into pieces that can be used for his glory.  Every one of us is a unique work, made by God himself with special talents and abilities to carry out the plans he has for us. 

Today, as you go about your routine, let this truth fill your mind and your soul.  Like a fine piece of pottery, you were designed and made by hand and you bear the personal touch and the fingerprints of the very hand of God!