“Arise and go down to the potter’s house; there you will hear my word.
I went down to the potter’s house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the vessel of clay he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making another vessel of whatever sort he pleased. Then the word of the Lord came to me: Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done? Indeed, like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.”
Jeremiah 18:2-6 (NAB)
God called Jeremiah to go to the Potter’s house and observe him in action, working with clay and creating at his wheel. He saw that the Potter reshaped the clay works of his hands until it was pleasing to him. God told Jeremiah that He is the Potter and His people are like that clay.
The Potter is a metaphor to remind us that we are continually being molded and re-shaped, and whether we are 7 or 70, God is not finished with us yet.
Clay is best shaped through heat and pressure. During those trials, when the heat is highest and the pressure is most intense, we can be confident that we are in the Potter’s hands, being re-shaped. Whether we have drifted from our faith, or face new and difficult tests of faith, we are all being prepared for greater things. The process of being in the Potter’s hands, may not be pleasant or comfortable at the moment, but it offers us fresh opportunities to find the path God has destined us to be in, that path that is according to His will.
God is working at His Potter’s wheel, to reshape us into the image of His son, by using us to encourage someone else who is going through a similar test or problem. Every believer is called to be imitators of Christ, and to live in love, as He did when He handed himself over for us. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
Since God wants us to be imitators of Christ, we are asked to hand ourselves over to Him, trusting Him through whatever is happening in our lives. Even when we don’t respond to God as He desires, He never gives up on us, but patiently keeps working and molding the clay.
He tells us throughout scripture that we are His beloved children, His sons and daughters, yet He isn’t finished with us yet. We are all at the Potter’s wheel. Every one of Paul’s letters says something to remind us that we are in a constant process of being molded and re-shaped to become more like Christ.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren.”
(Romans 8:29)
I lost my way of faith and obedience more than once over the years, but God, who is rich in mercy, took me back to His Potter’s wheel over and over again. In some cases, He sent His heat and pressure my way, to redirect my path and I was inspired to live for Him again. In looking back I see His many mercies shown over a lifetime.
The Potter has brought all of us to the place we are at today, and for all the faith and trust we have in Him, it is by His grace and the multitude of His mercies shown to us over the years.
There’s a good reason that the only Hebrew word for mercy is in a plural form, “Rachmim.” A Hebrew word that ends in “im”, is plural. God’s mercies are plural because they are endless, and last a lifetime. No one is more generous in mercy than God.
He molds and re-shapes us with the passion of a devoted father, not an eccentric artist. We are His beloved sons and daughters, His unique and creative designs, with distinctive traits, which were placed in us, by Him. He loves us as we are. He sees the beauty in what we can become, and is not distracted by our flaws or failures. He is making us become more like His son each day.
Isaiah speaks of His steadfast love, to the degree that God tells us,
“I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” (Isaiah 49:16)
If we are engraved in God’s hands, then the Potter’s hands are the nail scarred hands of Jesus. Since He once handed Himself over for us, we can securely yield ourselves into His hands.
Lord, we thank you for your many mercies and for who we are and have become over time, in Christ. It was your Potter’s hands that have re-shaped us through heat and pressure over the years. We yield our whole self to you and ask that you make us whatever you want us to be. Amen