June 4: Clay in the Potter's Hand
You might feel like a ruined pot, too cracked and misshapen to be worth much.
“Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”
God sent Jeremiah to watch a potter at work. Jeremiah saw the potter shaping clay on the wheel. Then something went wrong. The vessel was marred in his hand.
What did the potter do? He didn’t throw it away. He made it again, into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
Then God said: can’t I do with you as this potter has done? Like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in Mine.
There’s so much hope in this picture. The clay got marred. That’s honest. Drinking marred a lot of things in your life. Your inventory showed you where. But the potter didn’t give up on the clay. He kept his hands on it and reshaped it.
Notice also that the clay doesn’t reshape itself. That’s not its job. Clay’s job is to be soft enough to be shaped. Hard clay cracks. Soft clay can be worked.
That’s a good picture of Step Six. Willingness is staying soft in God’s hands. Not resisting. Not insisting on your old shape. Letting Him press and mold and form something new.
Sometimes that’s uncomfortable. Being reshaped means being changed. Old habits get pressed out. It can feel like loss before it feels like gain.
But the potter knows what He’s making. He sees the finished vessel even when you can only see the lump on the wheel.
You don’t have to know what you’ll look like on the other side. You only have to stay in His hands.
Many people find that the places where they were most marred become the places where God’s work shows most clearly later. The cracks you’re ashamed of may one day help someone else trust the potter. Nothing in His hands is wasted.
So don’t pull away from the wheel because the shaping is uncomfortable. Stay. Let Him work. The finished vessel is worth the pressure.
One thing today
Pick one defect from your list. Write: Lord, I’m clay. Reshape this however You want. Pray it slowly, three times today.
A prayer
Lord, I’m marred. Drinking bent me out of shape. But You’re the potter, and You don’t throw me away. Keep me soft in Your hands. Make me into whatever You want. Amen.
Read more about Step Six.
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