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 down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at 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. Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
Have you ever had the privilege of watching an expert working the clay on his wheel? It is wonderful to watch a blob of clay being fashioned by hands into a finished form of genuine beauty.
The mind of the potter can see the hidden potential of that blob. The words of Jeremiah remind us that this is how God sees us. He sees our possibilities and potentials and he longs for us to become yielding and flexible in his hands. He longs to fashion us and bring out our real potential.
In the OT when God asked Amos to be a prophet he protested that he was nothing of the sort, he was simply a farmer. When he asked Moses to lead and negotiate with Pharaoh, Moses protested and said he was a bad speaker. But God saw their potential and sent them off as powerful warnings to the nations.
When Simon was met by Jesus he was renamed the Rock because behind Peter’s impulsive and unpredictable surface Jesus saw a strong reliable leader.
Many of us wonder how God could ever use us. How could he use our bumbling efforts to bring someone into his kingdom. Remember we are clay in the hands of our Divine Saviour and Lord. God is changing us and he wants us to call people out of darkness into his marvellous light. God wants his gospel to go forth and people to be saved and he uses us to be both livers and proclaimers of this gospel. Are you ready to be used?