May we all see ourselves as part of God's creative mastery in this inspirational teacup story. Recall the Bible story of the potter and the clay found in Jeremiah 18.
THE TEACUP STORY
There was a couple who frequently traveled to England to shop in its beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery, especially vintage and lovely teacups. One trip was taken to celebrate their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. On a visit to a very lovely shop they discovered an especially beautiful cup. They asked the proprietor, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so exquisite.”
As the sales lady handed the cup to them, the cup began to speak…”You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was a dull clump of clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over, and I yelled out, ‘Let me alone,’ but he only smiled, 'Not yet.’
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the cup continued, "and suddenly I was spun around and around and around. '‘Stop it! I'm getting dizzy! I screamed.” But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.’
"Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat!" the teacup said. “I wondered why he wanted to burn me; I yelled and knocked on the door. I could see him through the opening, and I could read his lips as He shook his head, 'Not yet.’
"Finally the door opened, and he put me on a shelf; I began to cool down. ‘There, that's better,' I said. Then he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ’'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.’
"Then suddenly he put me back into the oven; it was not like the first one. It was twice as hot! I feared I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening, nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.’
“I felt there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But then the door opened, and he took me out and placed me on another shelf.
“One hour later he held me up to a mirror and said, 'Look at yourself.' And I did. I said, 'That's not me; that couldn't be me. It's so beautiful…I'm beautiful!’”
"I want you to remember this,” he said. “I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up into hard clay.
“I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color or beauty in your life.
“And, if I hadn't put you into the hotter second oven, you would not have survived for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.”
~ Author Unknown
********
Moral of the Teacup Story: God knows what He is doing…for all of us. He is the Potter, and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect will.
May the teacup story become our story as we willingly yield to our Potter’s hand.
Lesson from the Teacup Story:
This teacup story illustrates what Jeremiah wrote by the inspiration of God:
The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
Then the Lord gave me this message: “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would. Jeremiah 18:1-10 NLT
And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand. Isaiah 64:8 NLT
*******************************************
If you liked this story and would like a copy of either of my books,
they are available on Amazon in both paperback and Kindle format:
If you have a story or testimony that you think might bless others,
I invite you to send it by email to me (Kenneth Kersey) at godsotherways@me.com.
*******************************************