The Potter’s House

(Jer 18:1-4 KJV) The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.  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.

This morning we continue our new series entitled, “Faith and Patience VOL III – Never Give Up!”  We have been in this series for about three months now.  We have looked at what faith is and how the Father expects us to remain in it, regardless of the challenges we face.  We have also looked at multiple stories where people held on and held out, in spite of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and how God ultimately brought them through.  For the next few days I don’t want to focus on our ability to hold on for God, but rather on God’s patience to hold on for us.  If we would be honest, we would be able to say that God has given us second chance, after second chance, after second chance.  While we struggle to ‘never quit’ on God, we serve a God who is determined not to quit on us.  With that in mind, let’s take a trip to the potter’s house.

The Lord instructed Jeremiah to take a visit to the potter’s house where he would receive a message.  I will tell you up front that this message was about God’s patience with the children of Israel, but I believe that same patience can (and does) apply to us.  I will provide a quick summary before we take a more detailed look into the story.  We will learn that the potter (God) looked down at the clay (us) and saw that is was marred (ruined, corrupt); so He made it all over again – something that was pleasing in His sight.  But the potter could not make the clay over without first smashing it.  The point being that we sometimes have to endure a painful process of being remade and recalibrated when we are not submitting to God’s plan for our lives.  The good news is, however, that the clay – although smashed and crushed – was still on the wheel.  Now let’s take a closer look at the story.

A potter is an artist who selects clay according to the design he has in mind and then begins to shape and fashion the clay into the picture he preconceived.  God is the Master Potter.  He can take all sorts of clay and make it into beautiful vessels.  God is the Master Tailor who is in the business of making holy garments from flawed materials.  God is the Master Architect who is in the business of making holy edifices from stones the world has rejected.  God is the Master Creator who spoke to chaos and created order, spoke to nothing and created everything, spoke to darkness and created light.  God can see what we cannot see IN us and then works ON us, like a potter with clay, until we become what He saw.

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things:

1.  God is not through with you:  You may not be the person you know you ought to be, nor the person you know you really want to be, but the mere fact that you are still living and still breathing is evidence that you are still on the wheel!  God, the Master Potter, is still working on you.  God is still bending, pulling, shaping, reshaping, making, and molding you into the vessel that He had in mind before you were born.

2.  God will not give up:  God saw something IN you before he ever started to work ON work and He is determined to finish what He started (Phil 1:6).

3.  There is purpose in the pain:  When you don’t cooperate with God it causes you to endure the painful process of reshaping, but in the end it will be worth it and you will come a beautiful vessel.  When people come in contact with you they will know you have been touched by the hand of the Master Potter.

Closing Confession:  Father, You are the Master Potter.  I submit and surrender myself to Your making process.  I sit on Your wheel as yielded clay in Your hands.  I know You have my best interests in mind and You are determined to help make me into the vessel You envisioned (before I born) I would be.  I thank You for Your patience with me.  I know I have fought against Your process on many occasions and my stubbornness has caused me unnecessary pain, but I this morning I declare, by faith, that I will cooperate with You from this point on.  I enter into this day as a work in progress.  Have Your way in me Father.  Make me into the image You saw.  I want to be pleasing in Your sight.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen!

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper!