The potter walks over to his wheel and begins to spin what once was just a lump of clay into a form, a shape that will serve a purpose one day. What that purpose is will remain unknown until the potter is finished. There are many things that clay can become. It just takes time and patience to discover.
What happened that Jeremiah, the infamous prophet, was asked to visit the potter in the first place? The story of Israel is the story of all of us. Yes it's about the Jews, the chosen people. But, we are the same. Our lives in many ways resemble Israel's journey from slavery to freedom to slavery to freedom.
At certain times in our lives we have all been in tune with our number one player, to borrow a term from the hilarious comedian Kat Williams. But then, we have all lost focus at other times in our lives. We have been on those same mountains. Then, we have been in those same valleys. We just have to look at Israel as the metaphor of ourselves.
We get confused about the paths we are supposed to take. We forget sometimes who we are supposed to be. That's when the wide awakening trials and tribulations take place in our lives. We ask ourselves why this is happening. Then, we get back in focus because we know. We know what we were supposed to be doing and we know where we went wrong. All it takes is some life-jarring reality to snap us back into shape.
The cycle of our lives begins when we realize we are slaves. We will only arrive if we realize that we are indeed a slave to something. A workhorse is a slave to money. An addict is a slave to drugs. We can be slaves to gambling, debt, love, dreams. See, it's not always evil that can hold us in bondage. But if it owns us and we make all our decisions based on it, then we are slaves to it.
That's when we cry out! We cry out to the one who is listening. We want to break free. We want to enjoy our financial gain, but we don't want work to dominate our lives. We love our family, but we have to find our own path to take in life. We have dreams! But, it's time we get in front of them rather than keep marching endlessly behind. It's time to make a change and quit being a slave to whatever it is holding us back.
Freedom is a choice. But, it's often a hard choice to make. It often means taking a leap. Freedom can also mean loneliness, failure, rejection and loss. But, that's sometimes the trade you make when you leave bondage. Being a slave to this world might have meant always having a roof over your head, always being accepted, never having to worry about being hurt.
Freedom is breaking away from security and breaking out on your own. It can be scary and at times, the temptations call us back. But, freedom is what we ultimately want and it's what God wants for us. Therefore, Jeremiah visited the potter. He saw the potter fashion the clay. God's message to Israel was that He can fashion them in this very same manner. He can make them into what they want to be. If Israel would only let Him.
See, allowing God to be the potter in your life doesn't mean you give up being who you are. It means, you are going to be able to discover who you really are and because of that you will enjoy life with a greater sense of reward.
Free will comes into play. But, it often leads us into bondage. True freedom is being who we were meant to be, who we were designed to be. Throughout our lives, we have been given the signs. We knew where our life was supposed to be headed. But, letting go and letting the potter do His work is a commitment to a life of walking the higher road.
When you take a detour, it's like the potter losing the clay in his hands. It spins out of control and becomes a meaningless lump again. Getting back on track is giving yourself over to the understanding that there is a higher purpose for you. When you let that growth take place, it's like the potter beginning again with that same old lump of clay. This time determined that you will become something special one day!
The author of When You Miss Me and A Danger to Society, Michael Allen is actually more a writer of hilarious social commentary. But, often exercises his philosophical or theological wings when challenged by a fellow scholar or prompted by an eager inquisitor. When You Miss Me is a children's book for families who are going through separation or divorce and the children find themselves lost at times when they are caught in the middle. Michael Allen's message is to help those children learn how to magically turn the times they spend apart into times they spend together. Available in print and on Kindle, When You Miss Me.
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