I’m Not the Potter

 ⁸ Yet you, LORD, are our Father.
   We are the clay, you are the potter;
   we are all the work of your hand.   Isaiah 64:8 NIV

When my kids got a scraped knee my Mom heart wanted to patch up the outside of their pot and make it all better. As they grew up and faced the hurt and pain of abuse, rejection and anger from their father, I wanted to fix their inside pot, their heart.

Over the years I’ve realized even though I wanted to fix them I have no power to do it. I am not the potter or creator; God is. He molds each one of us into a unique individual with a free will. We can add designs, paint, and sparkles to adorn our outside, even while circumstances and situations in life adds scrapes, dents, and cracks.

We also choose with what we fill our pot, our heart, and what will be our focus. When I saw my children make bad choices and fill their pot with negative thoughts and actions, or place themselves in a bad situation, I would share the lessons of my life or give them advice to spare them pain. My motive and heart were to protect, but they saw it as me trying to be a know it all or to manipulate them. They wanted to make their own decisions and exercise their own free will. One of the hardest realities of being a parent is to realize and accept that it’s not my job to fix them.

Jesus is the best model for us. He was responsible to share and reveal truth and light to his family and home town to spare them more pain or hurt. They didn’t listen or embrace his wisdom; instead, they tried to kill him. If Jesus couldn’t share with his own family without rejection, what makes me think I can?  In spite of this, I have spent years believing I could. I now realize it is my job first and foremost to love them and encourage them. When they get too close to danger, it is still my responsibility as Mom to warn them, but the rest is up to them and God.

My need to fix is natural for a mom, but my drive to convince them is not how Jesus loved. He was the example of light and spoke the truth.  He then let people make their own decisions and face their own consequences. He never condemned them or shut the door on his love or forgiveness. My goal is to strive to follow Jesus’ model for the next half of my life. To share my heart in love with healthy boundaries and let God do the rest.

Have you ever tried to mold someone?

Break Through

Have you ever noticed how plants can break through blacktop and cement without hands or tools?

Somehow they know they must push on to survive. Once they make it through their barrier, they don’t know their life or outcome. They may not get enough water or sun or they may get cut off or trampled, and yet they still grow and push forward. It takes deep roots to give them the determination and energy to grow no matter what comes their way.

I pray God gives me their same determination, strength, and faith to grow no matter what barriers come my way. When I have looked to my own power to break through something in my life, it didn’t end well. In fact, some of the consequences from my decisions and actions will last for the rest of my life.

I, like the plants have an innate drive to keep pushing on through my own limited wisdom and power or through faith that God knows what’s best for me and He will lead me and guide me when I listen. I am either growing and pushing onward or giving up and dying. To ensure my best life, I choose to be deeply grafted in God so I can have the tenacity and endurance to love others and myself no matter what comes my way.  This is just what Jesus says in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” I am living proof of this scripture. Even though I bear the pruning scars of the bad decisions and actions in my life, I am now experiencing and celebrating the fresh fruit and love through Christ. We can all bear good fruit. It just takes one decision, to follow Christ.

What barriers have you pushed through in your life?