The Marvelous Potter

The Marvelous Potter

“Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” - Jeremiah 18:2

Today let's meditate about the Marvelous Potter. All of us have gone through troubling experiences in life. But sometimes one may ask: What is God doing in the midst of our pain, in the midst of our disappointments and in the midst of our shattered dreams? In Jeremiah 18, the prophet Jeremiah was asked to go into the potter’s house. “The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying: 2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” 3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make”. - Jeremiah 18:1-4. This scripture is a reference to the nation of Israel. Jeremiah explains the meaning in the next verses. But today, let us look at this passage from God’s standpoint and our standpoint, and what God is doing in our lives, and what it’s like to be a vessel in the potter’s house.

We will meditate on four elements to this passage, which will help us to understand God’s message for us. The first element into the Marvelous potter is the potter himself.

I. The Magnificent Potter

In this scripture verse, the potter is God. Look at a potter that you might find in Israel. He is so intent on what he is doing, and he has a plan in mind. He has a good idea of what this vessel is going to look like, and he determines whether it’s going to be a flowerpot, whether it’s going to be a water pot, whether or not it will have handles, or how big it will be. All of that is in his mind as he works purposefully. The magnificent potter works purposefully.

Some evolutionists argue that he is working blindly and throwing things together or things just happened by chance. But there is a plan. And there is a plan that God has for your life. Keep in mind that God has a purpose in what He is putting you through, because He sees you in a way that you do not see in yourself. He has a plan in mind. He is working purposefully.

Also understand that God, the potter, is working patiently. The Magnificent Potter works patiently. When we watch a potter, he goes through various motions as he is looking at that vessel. The vessel may seem good to us. But it is not yet good for him and he’s taking his time. He does not want to sacrifice beauty for speed, so he continues to work. The Divine Potter sometimes works in this way. We sometimes would like to be able to put our problems through an assembly line. “Do it quickly, God. Do it in a few weeks. Do it in a couple of months. Surely not years!” But understand, God is working patiently.

And the Magnificent Potter works authoritatively. Yet some still try to point out from their own eyes that many potters can have a mixture of success as well as failure, because to them the vessel is not turning out the way it was intended. So naturally, many people try to question God; saying, “Does God ever fail? Does He intend to do something and want to do something or is He blocked because of our stubbornness?”

There are two ways that we must view this. First of all, let us understand that God’s hidden purpose is always achieved. There’s no doubt that He works on all things according to His own will, and the will that you and I do not see. Know that there is so much that we see that we do not understand. And we cannot understand God’s purposes. That hidden will is always achieved. “He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand. Or say to Him, “What have You done?” - Daniel 4:35. His eternal, hidden will is always achieved and is perfect.

But also in another sense or way, His visible purposes here on this earth are sometimes wanted by us. It is by a hardness of heart, by our rebellion, by our failure to take human responsibility. So that’s the other side of this coin. Lets take for example the people’s demand and want for a King. But we know that the potter sits there working, he is working authoritatively because he has an end in mind.