The Wheels Are Turning

SERMON

BY BRO. SETH A. ARYEE

LOCAL PREACHER, BETHANY METHODIST CHURCH, DZORWULU, ACCRA-GHANA

THEME: THE WHEELS ARE TURNING

JEREMIAH 18:1-11

TEXT: “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” [Jeremiah 18:4]

The problem with most of us is that we have no clear picture of the God we long to worship. Our image of Him is clouded by the memory of cold church buildings and bitter religious beliefs, by pastors or priests who put the fear of God into us, or by all that we suffered as children from fathers who were absent, emotionally detached, brutal, or weak. All of us have inexact notions of God

So the question is God Himself: Who is He? This is the question to which all others lead - the question that God Himself put into our hearts. And if He put it into our hearts, there must be an answer in His heart waiting to be revealed

Why are so many people living with frustration, emptiness, despair, hopelessness, disgust, apathy, or anger? Such people have given up hope of finding relief to their inner ache for answers. Who has the answers and why are so many people still searching if the answers can be found?

Why are nations facing serious economic problems and hardships that seem not to have solutions? In fact, these problems defy any natural means for their solutions

Let us take a trip to see the relationship God established between Himself and the Israelites. On one such occasion, the prophet Jeremiah was sent to the potter’s house, not to preach a sermon, but to prepare a sermon, or rather to receive it ready prepared to be delivered to the people.

The prophet, therefore, went to the potter’s house and took notice how he wrought his work upon the wheels. In fact, God uses the natural things to convey the message of the spiritual.The potter refers to God; and the clay is reference to the people of God. As the porter works so does God work. The potter works with clay. There are two kinds of potters. One works with the hands and the other applies the wheel in his operations

The potter uses clay to accomplish his purpose - what he tends to form with the clay. He, therefore, picks up the raw clay - without any form, any fashion and any purpose. He then conceives a function (purpose) and form with the clay

The potter knows what he wants to achieve with the clay. However, the clay, by itself, does not understand what the potter wants to do with it. God knows what form He wants to create out of you - a function which He desires of you - what to do with your life. God has a function for our lives - to create a reality

For God to create a form, He uses three things - the WHEEL, WATER, and HANDS. The wheel represents times, seasons, circumstances, situations, and events that happen in our lives. Water represents the Word of God and the Holy Spirit - used to soften the clay so that it can be shaped. The hands of God are to give protection, security, and guidance so that you can be formed

There were two wheels used by the potter in making pottery. The lower one was worked by the feet to give motion to the upper one which was a flat disc or plate of wood, on which he laid the clay to be moulded with his fingers as the wheel revolved rapidly

When the potter takes the raw clay, he mashes or squeezes or kneads it. He makes sure that the clay is prepared - to remove any foreign materials (air, stones, stiffness, etc.)

When God wants to form you into the life that He wants of you, He will squeeze your life. The pains that you are going through is the work of the porter to fashion into the form he has planned for you

God is a God of preparation. He hits the clay on the wheel top in order for it to come into contact with the wheel. Then the wheel starts to turn round; that is the time that the problems also start in your life

You may ask: "What is happening to my life?" Both the wheel and the clay are going round in your life. All of a sudden, everything is going round without any control. But if you look under the wheel, you will see the feet of the porter. God is orchestrating the events of your life

In the Bible, there are personalities whose lives were orchestrated by God - to build their lives to fulfill the purpose of God. One of such men was Joseph. Joseph had a dream that the brothers were bowing before him - an indication that they would serve him in future.