Broken Pieces Make Good Grog
Ceramic pottery has been used for thousands of years. It is made from clay that has been molded and heated to high temperatures in order to make the clay hard. The clay reaches temperatures so high that the chemical composition of the clay changes. Pottery can be painted and glazed to become beautiful works of art. Besides it's beauty and versatility, the pottery is very durable. Many vessels have withstood the test of time, even for millenia.
What happens to pottery that becomes damaged or broken? Even the smallest crack can render a pot unusable.
Broken vessels are not just thrown out. Many potters will take the broken pieces of the clay vessels and crush them into dust. The technical term for that dust is called "grog."
The grog is then thoroughly mixed into fresh clay.
What are the benefits of "grogged" clay?
While drying shrinkage, it can help reduce firing shrinkage. Grogged clay can also help reduce thermal expansion, which means a lower chance of expanding and contracting, when it's being heated in the kiln, which will mean a lower chance of it cracking.
When the new vessel is fired in the kiln, the grog becomes a sort of adhesive — a bonding agent, if you will — causing the clay to be even more durable than it would have been without the clay dust.
We humans are often likened in scripture to pottery. We are vessels made of clay. As such, sin can "break" or "mar" us, having a profound effect on our usefulness or fitness for service.
When the child of God is broken due to sin, the Lord doesn't just throw us out. Rather, he takes our brokenness and refashions us into an even stronger vessel.
So, do you ever feel "crushed" by the weight of your own brokenness and the Lord's refining process, like so much grog on the potter's workbench? Well, Scripture has promised us that the Lord's heart is to "bind up" the wounds of the broken hearted ( Psam 147:3).
That grog, in the hands of a skillful potter, is like a powerful adhesive —a bonding agent — which will bind us back together, stronger than ever! And what's more, it will bond us even closer to the Father's heart!
God is, indeed, the Master Potter who, in His mercy, uses our experience, even our brokenness, to strengthen us and shape us into vessels ever increasingly fit for and worthy of service.
"I am forgotten as though I were dead; I have become like broken pottery" (Psalms 31:12, NIV).
"But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him" (Jeremiah 18:4, NIV).
A Clear Reflection of God
Dudley Bienvenu, Jr. wrote, "It is a fact that all precious metals must go through a refining process to be purified. In order to achieve this, refiners heat metal, such as silver or gold, to a boil that causes the impurities to rise to the surface. These unwanted and foreign particles are then filtered off, after which the liquid ore is allowed to cool. The process is then repeated several times. When one refiner, who used the old-fashioned method, was asked how many times he performed this operation and how he knew when the metal was pure, he replied, 'I do it until I can see a clear reflection of myself when I look into the liquid ore.'"
"In the same way . . . God sometimes turns up the fire in our lives to purify us. How often does He do it? Until He can see a clear reflection of Himself in us."
Dudley Bienvenu, Jr, You Can't Make It Alone! You Need God and Others, p. 23
"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who will be able to stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire and like cleansing lye. He will be like a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the Lord in righteousness" Malachi 3:2-3 (HCSB).
The Aroma of Christ
Pressed to Perfection
Coffee is Americas morning drink of choice! But what makes a great cup of coffee is often determined by how it is brewed! To the coffee snob, the French Press is the best.
It works like this---
The beans are crushed coarsely and placed into the French Press. Boiling water is added to the course grounds and it sits for 3-5 minutes. Then the top of the French Press is placed on the glass and the floating grounds are "pressed" to the bottom of the votive. The coffee flavor is amazing because the true aroma, oils, and essentials are extracted though the "pressing."
It works this way in life as well.
So many good things are produced when pressure is applied. Coal is pressed into diamonds; grapes are pressed into wine; and we are pressed into maturity. It is through this process that we manifest the true "aroma of Christ."
"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him" (2 Corinthians 2:14).