In the Hand of the Potter

”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 it seemed best to him. ‘Like clay’ in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” Jeremiah 18:4, 6

Back in the day of Jeremiah, clay was plentiful in that region and every household could be found possessing lots of pottery. It was only natural that God used this analogy to instill a better understanding for what He was trying to communicate.

I have heard people say, “God has a lesson for you in this adversity.” Do you ever feel like you are “lessoned out?” That you have been put on that potter’s wheel for one too many spins around the studio? I know I have in the past. There is great truth, though, in God using the experiences in our lives to teach, mold and reshape us. His warm and gentle hands cap our lives creating pressure on the areas of our lives that require the removal of impurities and imperfections. We are all marred and require constant inspection and reworking in the hands of the Master Potter.

The potter has the gift of looking at a lump of clay and visualizing its potential for something unique, beautiful and one of a kind. Its destiny is not realized by sitting on the shelf but by being placed on the wheel and receiving water, motion and applied pressure to achieve its greatest beauty and purpose.

God uses the turning of events to shape His children like the potter uses the turn of the wheel to shape his piece of work. God deems the shaping of our lives as it seems best to Him as the verse states and requires neither our permission nor understanding. If our hearts are not open to His reworking, reshaping and remolding our destiny will never be fulfilled.

Remember, God has the perfect vision in mind for each of our lives and knows exactly what is required to achieve our greatest beauty and His highest glory.