Shaping, Stretching, Cutting, Squeezing
Thursday October 17, 2013
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. (Jeremiah 18:1-6 NIV)
God told Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house and he would give him His message. In obedience to God, Jeremiah went. What did he do when he got there? He looked around. God hadn't told him anything else to do at that point so Jeremiah simply chose to pay attention to what was happening and make himself available so that God could speak to him. Since he was at the potter's house, Jeremiah saw a potter working at a wheel. This is what you would expect at a potter’s house! What did he observe while the potter was working with the clay? The potter shapes, stretches, cuts, squeezes, trims, and all the while the clay is spinning on a wheel. The shape the potter has in mind begins to appear as the potter slops water on the clay and starts applying pressure here or there. (Click on this link for a lovely video that shows the potter working: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsDrZF2lY4w) God works similarly in our lives. He lovingly cares for us as he shapes and stretches us. He alone knows the plan, the vision and purpose that we are made for. There is pressure and squeezing in ways we won't understand because we are just clay in God's creative hands. The end result, however, is that He makes something beautiful in His time.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. (Psalm 33:11 NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16-18 NIV)
Will you trust God's plans today? Will you believe that God is good and His plans are good even when you don't feel great about the pressure you are experiencing? Today, will you surrender yourself, all of you, into the loving hands of an all-knowing God trusting in His faithfulness to complete the good work which He has begun?
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