What To Do With Mistakes?
Friday October 18, 2013
What’s gone wrong in your life? What have you done with it? Do you see yourself, and all the circumstances of your life IN GOD’S HANDS?
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 sent Jeremiah to the potter's house to learn a lesson so Jeremiah paid attention to what the potter was doing and what did he see? He saw the potter making a pot with everything going along fine until a flaw showed up. (see verse 4). (For a lovely video of this process click on thefollowing link: http://www.youtube.com/watcj?v=VdP72hSLFuc)
Did the potter throw away the clay when he observed the flaw? NO. He formed it into another pot shaping it as it seemed best to Him. Sometimes a potter cuts pieces away, when to an unskilled observer, it looks just fine. The potter knows the clay and makes necessary adjustments as he determines how it will perform under certain circumstances. God, who formed us, also knows us and the pressure we can take. He will never allow more than we can handle.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV)
Many things happen in our lives – some of those things caused us much pain. Only God knows how to work them together into a vessel that He can use. In fact, God promises to do just that.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28 NIV)
God has endless possibilities. God knows what to include/exclude. God is able to make good out of everything – SHAPING AS SEEMED BEST TO HIM … We need to invite God to work in us the way He knows best. How do we do that? We stop trying to do things our way. We need to listen to His guidance and be willing to follow it every day. We get that guidance by reading the Bible and by praying and talking to God. We place our lives into God’s hands. God will always make something good out of our life – even our mistakes, even our suffering, even the injustices that happen to us. Only God, just like the potter, knows how to do that.
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