“Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel<\/em>” (Jeremiah 18:6).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n This is the picture God gave to Jeremiah, and it remains equally meaningful to us today. When God told him to go to the potter’s house, it wasn’t only for him to be amazed at the craftsman’s work or to make a new friend, but rather for Jeremiah to see how the Creator works in the lives of His people. The potter had every right to shape, reshape, or even start over with the lump of clay. But notice something extremely important from the text: when the vessel he was making was spoiled, he did not discard it with impunity, but rather reworked it into something even more beautiful:<\/p>\n “And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do<\/em>” (Jeremiah 18:4).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It’s easy to forget that we are not the designers or potters of our own lives; instead, we are the clay. We have free will to influence our destiny through our choices and actions, but we are not the ultimate authority over our lives. God formed us into the priceless vessel we are today. It was His skillful hands that designed every intricate part of our anatomy, and He gifted us with spirit and soul. It was He who breathed life into us. We are the clay in the Master Potter’s hands, and we must remain malleable. When the clay becomes hard, the potter adds water, but we stay malleable by ingesting the word of God daily.<\/p>\n Thankfully, God does not summarily discard us when we make mistakes. Instead, He reshapes our broken and shattered pieces into something even stronger and more beautiful-if we allow Him. You see, sometimes we, the clay, jump off the Master Potter’s spinning wheel. We try to go it alone, but inevitably, we hit the ground and become misshapen, ugly, and worthless. The vessel God formed to hold His Word in obedience begins to leak, and the enemy takes control of our lives.<\/p>\n The good news is that our Master Potter patiently waits for us. When we recognize our broken lives need “fixing” and step back onto the spinning wheel, He begins the delicate work of reshaping us. That process might not always be pleasant. Sometimes, it requires pressure, even from the loving, gentle hands of the potter, to mold us into something more valuable, more precious, and more resilient. Life’s pressures, challenges, and even our failures are not wasted; they are part of His refining process. Just remember, God does not reshape us unless we acquiesce to the process through repentance.<\/p>\n When we submit to His shaping, we become vessels useful for His work: “Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work<\/em>” (II Timothy 2:21). That’s the heart of the gospel. When we’re broken by sin or disappointment, God doesn’t toss us aside, but instead, He begins again. David understood this when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me<\/em>” (Psalms 51:10). That’s the prayer of a man willing to be remade – and that should be our prayer as well.<\/p>\n Remember this: no matter what you think, you are not too broken to be healed, not too broken for God to give up on you, and definitely not too broken for God to discard you. Right now, He is waiting for you to step back on the wheel so He can begin the restorative process and reshape you into a vessel that aligns with His will. But, it will take your willingness for that process to start, so if you need “fixing,” consider climbing back on that wheel today. Amen.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Cleve Stafford “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel” (Jeremiah 18:6). If you have ever watched an artisan potter at work, I think you will agree that it is mesmerizing. Those hands are so powerful, and yet they work so gently with the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1293,941],"class_list":["post-88343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-destiny","tag-purpose"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":84079,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-make-use-of-sinners\/","url_meta":{"origin":88343,"position":0},"title":"Does God make use of sinners?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day sir, In the context of the potter and the clay, is it simply explained that God uses sinners in their sinful condition doing wrong or sinning to accomplish His purpose? Answer: The illustration of the potter and the clay is used several times in the Scriptures. \"Woe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13380,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-name-it-and-claim-it-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":88343,"position":1},"title":"What does ‘Name it and Claim it” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 15, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What does 'Name it and Claim it\" mean? Answer: \"Name it and claim it\" is the slogan of the Positive Confession movement, also known as Word-Faith. At the heart of the movement's teaching is the idea that faith is what we say, not what we have in someone else.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14336,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-god-to-decide-my-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":88343,"position":2},"title":"Who is God to decide my life?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: So who is God to decide and what mechanism do I have to protest that He is wrong? Being male is not enough to suggest He is all-knowing. Why put me on this earth with an overwhelming sense that I don't belong here. Why keep dragging me back to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68513,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/broken-jars-broken-lives\/","url_meta":{"origin":88343,"position":3},"title":"Broken Jars, Broken Lives","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 24, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores Jeremiah had been to the potter's house. In Jeremiah 18, he saw the craftsmanship the potter exercised in creating and then reshaping his work. I'm sure he saw the pleasure in the artisan's face as the vessel took the shape he intended. In chapter 19, the persecuted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/broken-pot-300x200.avif","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":55078,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/babylon-clay-tablet-confirms-jeremiah\/","url_meta":{"origin":88343,"position":4},"title":"Babylon Clay Tablet Confirms Jeremiah","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ben M. Shropshire via Lifeline, 7\/15\/00 The recent discovery of a cuneiform clay tablet by an Austrian scholar at the site of ancient Babylon confirms the historical accuracy of the book of Jeremiah. The recently deciphered tablet, which dates from 595 BC, refers to an official in the court\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2004\/10\/Babylon-Clay-Tablet.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":60553,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/unconditional-election\/","url_meta":{"origin":88343,"position":5},"title":"Unconditional Election","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton Understanding Purposeful and Temporal Election versus Unconditional Salvation Election The second point of Calvinism in the TULIP acrostic is \"Unconditional Election\". It means to Calvinists that God picked Randy and not Bob, Suzie, and not Janet for salvation and that His election of Randy and Suzie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88343\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/potter2-300x200.jpg\")
If you have ever watched an artisan potter at work, I think you will agree that it is mesmerizing. Those hands are so powerful, and yet they work so gently with the clay. As the wheel steadily spins, what begins as a lump of clay is soon shaped with purpose and intent into a useful thing of beauty. Whether it becomes a flower vase, a vessel for water, or an intricately designed ornament, the transformation is truly astonishing.<\/p>\n