Putty in His Hands

A couple nights ago I had a dream about silly putty. OK, maybe you wouldn't call it a dream....I woke up thinking about it. You might say that's a strange thing for a grown woman with no small children to think about and maybe it is. Silly putty was one of those things that my sisters and I used to play with many Sunday mornings with the newspaper comics sprawled out on the dinning room floor. We'd take impressions of our favorite comic strips-Garfield, the Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes. We'd roll the putty into a ball then press it into a pancake-like flat circle. Then we'd press the putty onto the comic strip. The goal was to lift some of the ink from the paper to make a mirror image of the characters on the putty being careful not to tear the paper or over-stretch the imprint. Then the real fun began. We'd pull on the edges of the putty, stretching Snoopy's nose until he looked like he suffered from an over-bight or stretching Garfield vertically making the once fat cat into something tall and lanky. Once we'd had our fill distorting the impressions until they were barely recognizable, we'd start the process all over again, massaging the silly putty until the ink had disappeared and there was no sign of what had been there before. We'd press the putty around our fingers and up against our palms to make perfect impressions of our unique prints. The putty would take the shape of whatever we pressed it against. It was simple fun that would give us hours of entertainment.

So why was silly putty on my mind? I haven't played with it or even thought about it since my children were small. As I mulled it over on my drive into work that morning, I was reminded of Isaiah 64:8 "Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."

I don't know if you've ever played with silly putty but it comes in a plastic egg shaped container. When you first open up the egg, the putty is just an unshaped pile of goo, resembling used chewing gum. It's clean, un-stretched, un-touched, un-used but most importantly, un-sharpened. It's not until you take it out of it's protective shell that it can be used. Sometimes when you work with silly putty, it gets dirty, a hair gets stuck to it or it gets stretched until it breaks into two pieces. But, the person molding it can carefully remove the hair or they can press the broken pieces back together until there is no sign, no scare, not even a seam....nothing resembling the once broken, dirty pieces of putty. As the putty is pressed and molded, over time it's color begins to change with the ink of the impressions that have been worked into it and the natural oils from the working hands. It's no longer the original pink, un-used pile of goo that it once was. It's original; mine would be a slightly different shade than my sisters. The longer the putty is massaged, the easier it is to work with. It becomes soft, more pliable and if you leave it, unprotected and un-worked in the open air, it will become stiff, harden and if left long enough, when bent.....it can break.

If we stay in our protective shell, never come out of our comfort zone, never allow ourselves to be placed in the hands of our Father, we are no different than the new and un-used putty. Yes, we are clean, fresh and pink. But, the protective shell that we put around ourselves only prevents the Lord from using us and shaping us. It separates us from Him. There is no risk of getting dirty or stretched-maybe beyond out limits but we also go un-used, un-changed, dare I say, un-original. The enemy would have you believe that you'll be alone and unprotected outside your shell. He'll use fear of getting dirty, fear of getting stretched or broken to keep you within its confines.

But we know.......

Jesus said in John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

We weren't created to simply stay, unchanged, in our protective shells. The full life that Jesus came to give us won't fit inside that itty-bitty shell. God wants to mold us, use us, have fellowship with us. Yes, that means that you might get dirty and you are going to get stretched. But the Lord Jesus, when in His hands, cleans us up and presses us back together leaving no scare, no blemish, perfect and changed, an original. As He leaves His imprint on us, we are changed, no longer what we once were. We no longer need the protection of our plastic shell. He protects us as he molds us and shapes us. We don't become dry, stiff and hard but remain workable, pliable as we are surrounded by the warmth of His hands. As we press against Him, we become imprinted with Him, His likeness and we begin to look more like Him. After all, we are made in His own image (Gen 1:27).....wonderfully and beautifully made.

As I kept coming back to the silly putty, I have asked myself "Am I putty in His hands?" I would like to think so but truth be told, many times, I find myself with my guard up......afraid to step out of my own comfort zone, afraid that I'll make a mistake or that I'll be hurt or disappointed. The putty is nothing except goo until it's placed in the hands of the molder. The putty can no more mold itself into anything than I can mold myself. Just like my sisters and I would press the putty against the morning paper, I need to make myself available to be pressed into the Lord. Bring the walls down, step out and trust Him. Let Him do the molding and truly be putty in His hands.