Dear Daughters,
Now that I have written twice about the metaphor of the Potter (God) and us (the clay), I became somewhat concerned about using that image only. If we are just a mute, senseless piece of clay, it doesn’t sound terribly intriguing to trust our lives to a God who is only there to shape us into whatever He wants.
A few weeks ago I remembered a section in The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge, speaking about the many different ways in which God relates to us:
The Scriptures employ a wide scale of metaphors to capture the many facts of our relationship with God. If you consider them in a sort of ascending order, there is a noticeable and breathtaking progression.
At the bottom of the totem pole there is the image of God as the Potter and we the clay. But that picture gives us as pots no communication, no ability to ask questions, express emotions or even have an opinion. (Isaiah 64:8)
Mercifully, there are other comparisons in the Bible portraying the relationship between God and us as his created beings. Moving up from the Potter and the clay is the image of The Good Shepherd. (Psalm 23) Because we are pictured as the sheep and Jesus the Shepherd, both beings are now at least living, and the image is one of the Shepherd keeping us safe, holding us in his arms, keeping away wolves and other predators. It is comforting yet still not complete.
Then there is the description where we are servants of God. (Matthew 25:21) Somehow many of us take on that role quickly and easily. God tells us what to do and we obey, swiftly and without discussion. Often we do and do and do, anything and everything that needs to be done – for the needy, for the hurting, for our families or the committees at church. The focus is on doing work, and doing it well. It too is a good image, yet incomplete. Servants are valuable but are not able to get too close to the Master. Yet many of us get stuck at this point.
Thankfully, God also calls us his children, and He our heavenly Father. (1 John 3:1) Children have a lot more intimacy with their parents than clay does with potters or shepherds with their sheep. They also have a lot more freedom than servants. Children can come into the house at any time, be a little annoying and misbehave, yet still be loved.
But even in the best parent-child relationship there is still something missing. If we continue searching out our relationship with God, we amazingly find that Jesus calls us His friends.
…photo by Kari Matthews
With you, my daughters, we have progressed from the mother-daughter relationship to one of friendship. I count you among my most precious friends. Yes, there is still the fact that I am your mother, and you my daughters but we have relationships that are honest, open and vulnerable.
I count it an incredible miracle that Jesus calls us His friends. (John 15:15) Many people in the world mock the fact it is possible that the Creator of the universe would converse with people, or that He even cares. But the Bible tells us it is so, and I call Him my very best friend.
Yet, there is one other level the Bible speaks of – that we are God’s beloved. (Song of Songs 7:10) He is simply crazy about you and I. There are some dark, confusing days when I still struggle to believe, yet I know it’s true. How He longs for us to talk to Him, to trust Him with our most difficult parts of life. He loves to hear our honest hearts, our raw and aching emotions, our deepest joys.
Our husbands are also our beloved, but they simply cannot be there for us all the time. They are not capable of dealing with or understanding our inmost longings, desires, and joys. We need our Creator who knows us better than we know ourselves, who calls us His beloved, to give us the confidence that we need so that we too can love as He does.
How I rejoice in the fact that day or night, He is there. Yes, He is shaping me like a potter shapes His clay. Indeed, He protects me like a shepherd does his sheep. I am His servant, His child and His friend, but best of all I am God’s beloved.
And so are you….
So, hold on loosely to this life. There will be dark times, anguish, disappointments and times of perplexity. But there will also be hope for the future, peace during turbulent happenings – all because you are God’s beloved.
In this we can all greatly rejoice.
Love, Mom
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