The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” 3 So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. 4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
5 Then the Lord gave me this message: 6 “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. Jeremiah 18:1-6 (NLT)
Imagine it. The potter is sitting at the potter’s wheel. He is working with a hunk of clay. As the clay is forming, the potter realizes that it’s not going to look like it should so he says “You worthless piece of clay. How could you turn out like that? What is wrong with you? You are good for nothing.” Then, he beats it senseless so he can start over.
This is how I sometimes feel we think of God. We see him as watching us from above waiting to pounce on us the moment we make a mistake or don’t do something we should. We feel that he is criticizing us and hurting us. But that is not what happens at the potter’s wheel.
Instead, the potter says “Oh my. It looks like your edges could be a little better-rounded. You could definitely be more beautiful with just a touch here and there. That inside glory is not yet seen. Just a little more molding, a little more shaping and you will be as stunning as ever. I can help you with that.”
God, as the potter of our lives, wants nothing more than the best for us. He wants us to shine from within. He wants us to reflect Jesus in all His glory. And so he shapes and molds us. He grows us through the good, the bad and the ugly so we can be all he designed us to be. He does this with the same love the potter feels when he creates a thing of beauty….only more intensely. He has given his all for us. He sacrificed everything so we can be transformed by his love.
God is our potter. We are the clay. And I praise him each day that in his hands we can be transformed into a unique, one-of-a-kind work of art.