The Potter’s House

“Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.” (Jeremiah 18:2)

The potter was at his wheel when Jeremiah arrived. He observed as the potter skillfully shaped a lump of clay into a pot, but then something happened. The clay was somehow marred in the potter’s hands. What was to be a beautiful, useful, symmetrical, strong pot was suddenly deformed. So the potter beat the clay back down to its original lump and started all over. He re-worked the clay into another jar he envisioned in his mind.

The Lord’s message to Jeremiah was thus, “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel.”

A stark truth of creation is that God is sovereign. That isn’t all He is. He is also compassionate, all-powerful, and all-knowing, and so much more than we can comprehend or describe, but certainly He is sovereign. That means that God can do anything He wants to do, and whatever He chooses to do is always right, because He is holy and righteous. Thus, whatever God chooses to do with us in His vision for who He wants us to be and what He wants us to do is, therefore, in His hands as the clay was in the potter’s hands.

Some will not like that idea very much. Some may even rebel against it. Some may not agree that it’s true. All that notwithstanding, we should consider our response to this truth. There are three attitudes that seem to be appropriate. First, as we try to view the sovereignty of God within the larger context of who God is and what He is like, we should humble ourselves before Him. Humility says, “Not my will, but Your will be done.” Second, we should trust God to shape us into vessels that are useful for His purposes. Trust says, “Lord, I trust everything in My life to You, and I want to be useful in the work of Your kingdom.” Third, we should practice obedience to the Lord’s teachings and to His Spirit’s direction. Obedience says, “Lord, I will follow as You lead.”

Lord, Shape us and mold us after Your will, while we are waiting, yielded and still. Amen.