Any Air Pockets?

Isaiah 64:8: Still, God, You are our Father. We’re the clay and you’re our potter: all of us are what you made us.(MSG)

I can add a mashed banana, a few teaspoons of cocoa, or a dash of food coloring and still have a fat-free dessert that will please my health-oriented conscience. Yes, an angel cake mix is quite adaptable to creative ideas.

I don’t stray in the mixing department though. If I want a ‘puffed-up’, well-risen cake, I carefully follow the package instructions. I never thump the beaters on the bowl edge or make any loud banging noises while the cake bakes.  In contrast, bread dough must be punched and kneaded repeatedly so that air pockets don’t spoil the final loaf.  An air pocket displaces the real thing.

I suspect that potters make great bread! They get a lot of practice beating the air out of their product. They repeatedly cut and slam their clay in a kind of bread making rhythm to force tiny air pockets to break. The clay is unusable if it is full of air.

Are you breathless from the surprises of life? Taken down a peg or two in an area of pride? God, our Potter, is busy squeezing out all our air pockets so that we will become solid useable loaves, not fluffy cake full of ourselves. Let’s thank him for the process –and the results.

Prayer: Lord, work on our air pockets. Squeeze out any part of us that is not like You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.