When things don’t turn out as planned

This word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Rise up, be off to the Potter’s house; there I will give you my message”. I went down to the Potter’s house and there he was, working at the wheel. Whenever the object of clay which he was making turned out badly in his hand, he tried again, making of the clay another object of whatever sort he pleased. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this Potter has done?”, says the Lord. “Indeed, like clay in the hand of the Potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.” Jeremiah 18:1-6

Chiseling a block of cherry wood into a beautiful bowl can turn out differently than you might think. In High School, my woodworking project turned out badly after many attempts to make it right. I didn’t give up and finished it, but it was only 1/3 the intended size!

If something turns out badly, we often just pitch it. In our consumer world today, we easily discard possessions and projects, and sometimes we even throw away relationships. Although we easily give up on ourselves and others, God never gives up on us! The cherry bowl in my office (though it is small), it forever reminds me that God can redeem anything, even when it has not turned out as planned.

The prophetic message/metaphor of the Potter’s wheel in Jeremiah 18:1-6 implies that God’s special work of redemption was at work in Israel. Just as when the pottery turned out badly and the Potter kept molding and shaping, so God continued to work with Israel. The message is that God doesn’t throw away or waste any experience. He continues molding and shaping us into His likeness. 

This message to Israel is relevant today because, like a Potter, God is working in His children to sanctify them and complete the good work that He started. Our problem is that we often think our failures or imperfections limit God from forming us into a new creation in Christ. Like clay in the hand of the Potter, so each follower of Christ remains in His hand. Christ is the Potter at the wheel and we are the clay. Nothing is wasted in our experience and nothing can stop the Lord from completing His redemptive work in each one of us.

Whatever has turned out badly in your life, give it to the Lord. Receive Christ as the Potter in your life to continue molding you and making you into the person He created you to be. Thank Him that nothing has been wasted in your life; He will use it all! He is faithful to complete the good work that He started in you.

Prayer 

Father, thank you for never giving up on me. I thank you that you are working, even in the midst of my failures and mistakes. Like clay in the hand of the Potter, you never stop working on me to make me like Christ. You have not wasted anything in my experience or in my life because you are working to complete the good work that you started in me. I thank you for forming me into your image and shaping me as you please. You are the Potter and I am the clay. 

Father, forgive me for believing a lie that my mistakes and failures are too big to redeem. Thank you for renovating my heart and forming this clay. I repent for allowing the enemy to speak lies, that my future is determined by my past.

Father, I rest in you today, knowing that you are at the wheel of my heart and will continue to form me into your likeness. I put my trust in you to redeem the time, the seasons, and the calamities of my life and turn it all for my good and your glory. I choose to cast off unbelief, despair, and hopelessness from my heart and mind. I declare faith in your eternal plan as the Potter to form me and make me into your likeness. I give to you the seasons of my life that have turned out badly. I will patiently and quietly wait for you to re-shape, re-work, and redeem it all. 

In Jesus Name, Amen.