THE STORY OF THE POTTER AND THE CLAY

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The illustration of the potter and the clay found throughout the Bible offers us a deep and vital lesson about God’s absolute control in our lives and how we, as the clay, must willingly submit to His divine shaping hands. This powerful metaphor not only reveals God’s perfect sovereignty but also encourages us, His children, to trust His process implicitly, even when it involves pressure, reshaping, and what appears to us as difficulty.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 “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. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.”

In Jeremiah 18:1-6, God Himself invites the prophet Jeremiah to go down to the potter’s house and observe a potter at his work. There, Jeremiah watches as the potter skillfully molds a vessel that had become marred in his hand, transforming it into something new and useful according to the potter’s own design. Through this living parable, God teaches a crucial and foundational lesson: He is the Potter, and we are the clay. He has the ultimate and unquestionable control over our lives, shaping each of us according to His divine, perfect purpose.

This same concept of God’s sovereignty is powerfully echoed in Isaiah 45:9, where God issues a stern warning against the clay (representing humans) questioning or striving against the Potter (God):

“Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?”

This solemn warning serves as a poignant reminder of our fallen human tendency to resist God’s will, especially when we do not understand it, when instead we should be completely trusting Him to shape us according to His perfect, loving design.

Let us consider some key truths that emerge from this divine illustration:

1. The Potter is in Absolute Control
Just as the earthly potter has complete control over the clay on his wheel, our God is sovereign over every single detail of our lives. We must always remember that He sees the bigger picture, the grand design, and He knows precisely what He is creating, even when the process is bewildering or painful to us. Romans 9:20-21 powerfully emphasizes this truth, stating that God, the divine Potter, has the undeniable right to shape each of us for different purposes—some for what the world might deem “noble use” and others for what might seem like “common use”:

Rom. 9:20-21 “Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Whether God’s specific plan for us involves a prominent, visible role or a quieter, hidden one, we can rest assured that His purposes are always good and always perfect.

2. The Potter Has a Definite Plan
A potter does not shape clay aimlessly or without a predetermined design in mind. Similarly, our God has a distinct, individual plan and purpose for each of our lives. We might not always see or fully understand what He is doing in the moment, but His purpose for us is always perfect and for His glory. Jeremiah 29:11 beautifully affirms this:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

We must learn to trust that the Potter knows exactly what He is making, even when the process involves intense shaping, pressure, and refining fire.

3. The Wheel Symbolizes Life’s Circumstances
In the potter’s workshop, the clay is placed on a constantly spinning wheel. This wheel aptly represents the ever-changing circumstances of life—the trials, the pressures, the joys, and even the blessings we experience—that God uses to mold and shape us. These circumstances are not random occurrences; they are under God’s sovereign control, meticulously used to shape our character, refine our faith, and draw us closer to Him. As Romans 8:28 so wonderfully assures us:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

4. Some Pots are for Special Purposes, Some are for Common Use
Our Lord doesn’t have the same purpose for all of us. The fact is that, not all of us are going to be Apostles of Prophets on the front line or will going to be great spiritual men like Moses, Daniel, Peter or Paul. Some of us are just made for common use. The Potter alone has the right to what we will going to mold the clay for. God has the right to choose what He wants to make and who He wants to use for whatever purpose He wants.

BUT ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS CHILD OF GOD: You need to be aware that if God wants to use you for a special purpose, then you must know that you will experience more pressure from the hand of the Potter than the rest of us. This is for the reason that He can mold you to be a more elegant vessel. The turning of the wheel will take longer and greater in your life than in those around you. Special vessels need more pressing from the hand of the potter than common pots. You will wonder why God allows so many difficult things to come into your life while others around you seem to have things much easier. That is the preparation for the making of a special vessel! It is not easy to be a special one, but God will be more glorified in your life. This we can read in Romans 20:20-21:

“But who are you, human being, to talk back to God? Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?”

Just as the potter controls and shapes the clay externally on the wheel, our God also works internally within us through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit. The prophet Joel uses the striking image of an army of locusts moving in perfect, disciplined order, despite having no king or visible leader to guide them (Joel 2:7-8, cf. Proverbs 30:27). In a similar, yet far more profound way, God leads and directs us, His children, from within through His Spirit.

Under the New Covenant, God’s law is no longer written merely on tablets of stone, external to us, but is now written upon our hearts. Hebrews 8:10 speaks powerfully of this internal guidance:

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.”

The Holy Spirit works within us, transforming our desires, renewing our minds, and guiding us to live according to God’s perfect will. John 14:26 promises that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, will teach us all things and bring to our remembrance everything Jesus taught.

The very presence of the Holy Spirit within a believer brings true freedom. As 2 Corinthians 3:17 declares:

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

This liberty, however, is not a license to do whatever our flesh pleases, but rather the divine freedom and enablement to become what God desires us to be, willingly shaped and molded by His loving, skillful hand.

Despite the clear and repeated teaching of God’s sovereignty throughout Scripture, we, in our fallen nature, often resist His shaping work. Isaiah 29:15-16 rebukes those who foolishly try to hide their plans from the Lord or act as though He is not in control of their lives:

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?”

This passage serves as a solemn reminder of our tendency to “turn things upside down,” arrogantly thinking we can direct our own lives better than God can. However, just as the clay cannot legitimately question the potter, we must learn to surrender completely to God’s will, trusting that His ways and His thoughts are infinitely higher and better than ours.

To truly surrender to God’s shaping work is to place our complete trust in His grand, overarching design for our lives. Like the master potter at his wheel, God knows exactly what He is doing, even when the pressure of life’s circumstances feels overwhelming and we cannot see the end from the beginning. We may not always understand His methods or the reasons for the trials He allows, but we can, and must, trust that the end result will be a masterpiece, fashioned for His eternal glory.

A story shared by Philip Yancey serves as a fitting illustration of this profound truth. Yancey, a skilled chess player, once had the opportunity to play against a grand master. He found that no matter what moves he made, no matter how clever he thought his strategy was, the grand master would always counter them perfectly, seamlessly incorporating Yancey’s every move into his own ultimately winning strategy. The grand master’s superior skill and foresight guaranteed his victory, regardless of how the game appeared at any given moment. Yancey beautifully compares this to God’s sovereign work in our lives. We may feel like we are making our own moves, our own choices, and sometimes even our own mistakes, but God, the Grand Master, is always guiding us, working all things together, steering us toward His ultimate, perfect purpose. Even our missteps and failures, when surrendered to Him, are woven into His flawless plan.

When we feel the intense pressure of life’s circumstances, when we are tempted to question the Potter’s purpose or doubt His love, let us remember that God is the Master Potter. He knows precisely what He is doing, and His plan for us is always for our eternal good and His ultimate glory. Our role, as the clay, is to submit to His hands, to remain flexible and moldable, trusting without reservation that He will create something truly beautiful and eternally significant in His perfect time. Amen.