The Potter of Our Lives

“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 to the potter’s house, and I saw him

working on 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.”

-Jeremiah 18:1-4

                Just as a potter shapes the clay, God shapes our lives. In the end, He makes the decisions and helps control the outcome. He can destroy us if we commit sins against Him or He can pour blessings upon us if we are righteous. We may see darkness in a certain time of our lives, but He sees the beauty that will come out of it and He never leaves us. We may mess up and make mistakes, but in the end, His plan prevails.

“You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.”

-Psalm 18:27

                Some people say that God does not exist. But that does not remove Him from their lives. Instead of continually pouring out blessings on them, He will eventually cause some sort of tragedy or unpleasing event to occur in their lives. If someone has many riches on this earth, and not in heaven, He can take all of their possessions away from them so they can experience what poverty is. He can make an atheist experience a disaster, so that they turn to Him and come to have faith in Him.

                But not all bad things occur because of sin. Maybe God wants you to change your job or workplace but you don’t want that change. He might make you lose that job or cause drama at the workplace so that you will want to get that job change. It’s not because He’s trying to control your life; it’s because He knows what’s best for you and needs you at certain places to do His work. He wants you to aim high so that you have an effect on others. Each person is called to their own mountain to be a light. When someone takes their part on that mountain and line up with God, they are the priesthood that God has chosen to change that environment to line up with God’s work.

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

-Psalm 18:16-19

                Maybe you recently broke up with a boyfriend or girlfriend, someone you thought you would spend the rest of your life with. God didn’t cause this to happen to break your heart or bring depression. Maybe He did it because maybe they weren’t really the person and He has someone out there that He needs you to be with. There could be someone who doesn’t believe in Him or has a wavering faith and He needs you to be there for them and support them; show them God’s love and maybe be an answer to a lonely person’s prayer. Maybe He did it because God wasn’t at the center of the relationship and He wants you to grow your relationship with Him first. Whatever the reason, it wasn’t meant to bring harm upon you. God never brings harm or destruction to those He loves just get pleasure out of it; He does it to teach a lesson or use them for His plans. It is God shaping your life.

                Sometimes God wants us to experience a certain hardship so that when we prevail and win victory over it, we can witness to others and maybe help someone who is or will be experiencing that same hardship. For instance, when I first ended a relationship with my ex-boyfriend, I was devastated felt it was a punishment. Sure, maybe it was because God wasn’t at the center of the relationship. But three months later, a friend of mine suffered the same thing, with almost the same exact details and events. I was able to be there and lift her up in the Lord. God used me to keep peace in her heart.

                Sure, we do have the freedom to do what we want, but we need to know the consequences for certain actions and we need to live according to God’s will for us. Each person’s will is different and we shouldn’t try to live like anyone besides Jesus.