Shepastor: “Vessels in the Potter’s Hand”

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words." 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? says the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. Jeremiah 18:1-6 (RSV)

We all are on the “Potter’s wheel.” Like clay, God in His sovereignty shapes us and molds us. Sometimes, the molding process is painful because we just can’t understand why things happen the way they happen. As humans, we tend to be “cause and effect” oriented. In other words, we tell ourselves, “…this happened because of that.” We are accustomed to attaching an explanation to every event. But there are some things in life that don’t have a clear, easy and fair explanation.

Things that don’t make sense…earthquakes devastating thousands... a wonderful young woman dies of breast cancer…a brilliant mind is struck with Alzheimer’s disease. Sometimes there are twists, and bends and potholes in the road of our lives that are painful and to our finite minds don’t make sense. But somehow, even these painful, seemingly unfair circumstances are used to shape and mold and knead the lumps and the bumps and the imperfections in our clay jars.

As we journey through life, we spend a lot of time on the underside of the tapestry, seeing only mangled, seemingly illogically patterned bits and pieces of threads and yarn and we wonder, what in the world does it all mean. But every now and then, the Lord gives us glimpses of the upper side where we can see a beautiful pattern being woven for His purposes.

Truly we are as clay in the potter’s hand. No matter how marred, broken, scarred, lumpy or imperfect we may be, the Lord is able to reshape us, break us if necessary, knead us and mold us into the new and beautiful vessels He desires us to be. But the key is that we have to be willing to allow the Lord to do as the potter did with the clay.

It won’t always feel good. It won’t always make sense. But if we trust Him, the Lord will take the marred, broken and lumpy pieces of our lives and shape us into a beautiful and useful vessel.

Allow the Potter to mold you today…

Until next Wednesday,
In Faith, Hope and Perseverance,
Pastor Chris
www.shepastorchris.org