Jesus welcomed the people, taught them about the Kingdom of God and healed those in need. Luke 9:11

Seeds of the Kingdom

Fingerprints

by Jim Person

‘Yet, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand’
Isaiah 64:8, NIV

As a young man, I loved to create things with clay, especially pottery on a potter’s wheel. In Alaska, I had an opportunity to work with clay pulled from the surrounding hillsides. This was particularly fine clay and the finished products made from it were absolutely stunning! The only problem was it was full of coal and other hard bits that needed to be removed. I had great satisfaction from the feeling of the clay on my hands as I worked all the hard parts out of it, because I knew that as I pulled out bit after bit that was hidden beneath the surface of the clay, the better the vessel would be. How did I know this? You see, experience taught me that, if I rushed this process, later on my hands would inevitably come in contact with the hard bit, and the whole piece would be ruined, as I tried to form it on the wheel. This vital lesson taught me that the more the potter was allowed to ‘work the clay’, the better it became. I quickly learned the importance of patiently taking time with this process, so I could make a finished product of quality.

A good potter’s never afraid to get his hands messy, for it’s necessary. In order to search out the imperfections in the clay, he has to get up to his elbows in the clay. His fingers have to develop sensitivity to finding the imperfections, and his fingerprints are all over the clay.

As our verse today tells us, He’s the potter and we’re the clay. He’s processing you and I, so that we can be made into that vessel fit for the Master’s use. But we do have a choice, unlike the clay I processed. We can stay on the wheel to be processed or remove ourselves.

Where are you? Are you rushing through the process? Are you allowing the Master Potter to process you? As He removes those hard bits from your life, are you yielding or are you resisting? Our God is patiently working up to His elbows in our lives and He’s willing to get messy in the process!

Will you allow Him to continue to place His fingerprints all over your life?

Prayer: Lord, help me to remain in Your hands! As You process me I chose to surrender to Your will! I chose to make You Lord over the hard bits in my life today! Help me to stay in Your loving caressing hands, as You search out every hard bit in me, and bring it to the surface, so it can be removed from my life. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jim Person Jim grew up in Alaska and from a small child commercial fished every summer with his family. God called him, his wife Tanya, and their four children to move to Hungary as missionaries in 2003. God then led him to join Ellel Ministries in 2005. After serving in various positions with Ellel in Central and Eastern Europe, God led them back to the United States, where he is now serving with the Ellel USA team. Jim and Tanya have a passion to see leaders restored, the church discipled and walking in God’s fullness of life and freedom. They also love mentoring the existing and developing Ellel teams wherever God leads them. Jim also has a real gift for working with the land to create a beautiful and welcoming environment.

 

Sign Up Now

Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.