Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Potter's Wheel



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

Today’s Reading: Jeremiah 18-19; 2 Timothy 3


Often times when we make mistakes in life we wonder how we can possibly bounce back from them. Sometimes the road to recovery is clear. We saw quickly the error of our ways and quickly changed course to get back on track.

But what about those other times where it took us a long while to see where we were going wrong?
What if it is months, years, or even decades before we realize it?

Under these circumstances it may seem like all hope is lost; that there is no way for us to get back on track toward the life that we were meant to live. But that is not true. There is always a chance for redemption.

We are that clay in God’s hands. I know that for me I had to realize that I didn’t know as well how to right my ship as God did. And once I started to let go and took my hands off of the wheel God was able to start forming me into the shape that he wants me to be.

Any ball of clay can become a beautiful vase but the clay does not become that way on its own. It must be patiently shaped that way through careful attention and love.

If life causes the vase to buckle before it realizes its true form then that is ok. There is still an opportunity to start over again, to let ourselves become who we are meant to become. We must first start by acknowledging our error, asking for forgiveness, forgiving ourselves, and taking each next step in the right direction. 

4 comments:

  1. Hello Man of God,
    I thank God for the potter's wheel. I've been on it many times, and feel like I'm on it right now. LOL

    In this passage where it says "go down" to the potter's house. I believe that's about us humbling ourselves to receive whatever mending and adjustments we need to keep going.

    Sometimes, because we are in an ungodly world, we get dirty because we are working with such dirty people, you cannot work with the world and not get some dirt on you every now and then. Its not always because we've missed it, but even if we do, God is right there to build us back up and set us on the correct path again.

    Thank you for the encouraging post. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. " believe that's about us humbling ourselves to receive whatever mending and adjustments we need to keep going."

    Well said Nicole.

    God spoke of this action for the Israelites. God laid down guidelines and requirements to help the people of Israel to know how to remain in favor. They had to choose to accept they don't know anything, and to follow and let God...do.

    As you said sometimes you find yourself amidst dirt. Once though we realize we are were we are, I feel it's a choice in how long we stay amidst that dirt. It's a choice thinking we know the best way to handle it. It's ALWAYS a choice.

    Life flows based on the choices we make. When we find ourselves facing choices that are hard to make, that's when we need to call upon God most. Because our way to take may be the easy one, God's way may actually hurt us. It's God's way though at the end of the day, that will lead us best to where we need to be.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone."

    Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great commentary y'all! thanks for putting in on the conversation!

    And yes Alegria... I almost wrote about that series of verses. How crazy is that?!

    ReplyDelete

Creative Commons License
A Convo With God by Clarence Mitchell III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at AConvoWithGod.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://AConvoWithGod.com/