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18 "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. 4 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.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 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. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it."
Jeremiah 18:1-10
This is an object lesson that God used to try and speak to Israel, but I think can also apply to us today. We are in the Lord's hands and he seeks to mold us into objects that he can use. Even when through different circumstances or life events people become marred it doesn't mean that God cannot use them, but the Lord simply remolds it in a way that is according to his plan.
Romans 11:29
I think about my own path and I worked for a time in one job thinking that I would stay there my whole career and it only lasted five years and then God changed it completely. And when he did change it it wasn't to anything I had been thinking about. He moved me into a position where I would interact with people I would never have met inside a church. It has allowed me to be more fruitful and have bigger impact than what my plan would have done. It shows you that God knows best even when it seems like has gone off the rails, as it seems to at times for me and I wonder what God is up to.
It also tells me that God can use everything. Even when we think we have made a huge mistake or had a huge heartache in our lives, God uses those tender spots to help make us more sensitive to the needs of others. How do you counsel people about depression or anxiety if you have never felt it? I think my own weaknesses and struggles have made me more sensitive to the needs of others. At least most of the time I think it has.
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me. 6 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. 7 If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, 8 and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. 9 And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, 10 and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it."
Jeremiah 18:1-10
This is an object lesson that God used to try and speak to Israel, but I think can also apply to us today. We are in the Lord's hands and he seeks to mold us into objects that he can use. Even when through different circumstances or life events people become marred it doesn't mean that God cannot use them, but the Lord simply remolds it in a way that is according to his plan.
Romans 11:29
I think about my own path and I worked for a time in one job thinking that I would stay there my whole career and it only lasted five years and then God changed it completely. And when he did change it it wasn't to anything I had been thinking about. He moved me into a position where I would interact with people I would never have met inside a church. It has allowed me to be more fruitful and have bigger impact than what my plan would have done. It shows you that God knows best even when it seems like has gone off the rails, as it seems to at times for me and I wonder what God is up to.
It also tells me that God can use everything. Even when we think we have made a huge mistake or had a huge heartache in our lives, God uses those tender spots to help make us more sensitive to the needs of others. How do you counsel people about depression or anxiety if you have never felt it? I think my own weaknesses and struggles have made me more sensitive to the needs of others. At least most of the time I think it has.