The Potter's Wheel

I didn't see him lie down in the shallow ditch in my yard but there he was, resting from the tiring work of pouring a new concrete driveway for me. I kept an eye on him for a couple of minutes to make sure he was okay while I finished up a couple of small jobs.

I really didn't know him very well at all. When I first met him he didn't talk much, he was all business. I was surprised he looked so tired; he was a big burly man, about six foot three inches tall weighing close to three hundred pounds or so.

After a couple minutes I walked over to him; he was still lying in the ditch; and asked him if he was alright. That's all it took. He spent the next ten minutes sharing his troubles with me. He said he had lost about a hundred pounds on his doctor's orders but had gained it all back so you couldn't tell it now.

He went on to say it didn't work trying to get healthy; in fact he thought it might have caused him to get cancer. I don't know how serious he was about that, but he didn't laugh as he said it. Anyway, the point to all this is that after he told me about the cancer surgery and the other medical treatments, he made the following statement.

"The Lord was trying to get my attention … and He did."

I replied back … "Yes, He can do that, and He has a lot of ways to get our attention."

I know the introduction to my subject is longer than I normally take, but God deals with real people, who have real problems and He can use these problems to get their attention.

So today I want to deal with how God, as "a potter" can shape and reform our lives using the things in the world. Even though the following scripture's first true meaning concerns the nation of Israel, I believe a secondary meaning can be applied to our individual lives.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 … "THE WORD which came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was working at the wheel. And the vessel that he was making from clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he made it over, reworking it into another vessel as it seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me: O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does? says the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel."

Why would God want to place our vessel back on the potter's wheel?

He told Jeremiah the vessel was spoiled … something was wrong with it. It could have been shaped wrong, maybe it couldn't stand up on its own; perhaps it just wasn't quite like … the potter wanted it. Could this be a description of man?

How does He rework us into a vessel that seems good to Him? We all live in a body made of flesh, and this body has become just as big a part of who and what we are as our spirit and soul are. So, I want to start with this premise … most of us as Christians wouldn't have too much trouble living for the Lord if it wasn't for these two things …

1.) Our flesh and its desires.
2.) Our fallen nature that controls our flesh.

You could say that both are really one in the same since the desires of the flesh come from our fallen nature. But if or when our vessel of clay ends up on the potters wheel, remember it's not so much that God wants to work on our physical body of flesh (although He has the right if He so chooses) but rather it's our fallen nature He wants to work on.

Paul wrote in Romans 8:7 … "the mind of the flesh, with it's carnal thoughts and purposes, is hostile to God, for it does not submit itself to God, it cannot."

The mind of the flesh is the fallen nature that is in your soul, which is different than your spirit. The soul (again, not your spirit) is where you have your passions, your thoughts, your mind, the real you, the person inside of you that looks out through your eyes, the one that is responsible to control the appetites and impulses of the flesh, the desires of our fallen fleshly nature. And as I have found out, most of them aren’t good.

I want to repeat what I stated before … your flesh (with its desires) is just as much who you are, as is your spirit. And that's the problem. It's your flesh … not your spirit that causes the trouble.

God has given us a "free will" to do what we want, which could be a problem. We do have the right to resist God as He reworks our clay; and most of the time as a rule He won't force us, but He has been known to do so. I do remember a man named Paul who met Jesus on the road … that experience was a little forceful with the light, the voice and the blinded eyes.

Which brings up the question; does God have the right to do … whatever … He wants with us? Psalms 24:1 states … "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness of it, the world and they who dwell in it."

God owns it all. This verse covers everything; the earth … the planet, the fullness of it … everything on it and all it produces, the world … man's social systems and governments, and they … all living creatures including mankind. He even owns the very breath in our bodies.

Paul continues in Romans 9:20-24, "… who are you, a mere man, to criticize, contradict and answer back to God? Will what is formed say to Him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Has the potter no right over the clay, to make one vessel for honorable use, and another for dishonorable use? What if God, fully intending to show and to make known His power and authority, and His dealings with the vessels, (objects of His mercy) including ourselves …"

The Lord would always prefer to use His Word and His Spirit to make the changes we need in our vessel of clay. God, as the potter wants to make changes in our attitude and our purpose in life; which then changes our fleshly desires or at least helps us control them. That change only comes through having more of His Spirit within us.

But what if we aren't listening to His Word as the Holy Spirit speaks to us?

Then He must first get our attention. Remember I stated that I replied back to the man lying in my ditch … "Yes, the Lord has a lot of ways to get our attention."

In this man's life, the one in the ditch, could it be that what got his attention was the fact that God just stepped back as He did in the case of Job, which then allowed the nature of sin that is in the world to come against him, the natural evils; things like sickness or a disease like cancer, or maybe an attack from the devil … one or all … who really knows what causes things like sickness, depression, suffering, the loss of love, and yes, dare I say it … even the death of a loved one. So many things are in the world and are at God's disposal, which He can use to get our attention.

I do know this … God is Sovereign … and if He so chooses; I'll let you finish that statement.

God would always prefer just to speak to our hearts. But if we aren't listening … He can get our attention when He places us back on "The Potters Wheel" and starts it spinning.

One fact usually overlooked by believers is that God Himself is the one who cursed the world we live in … perhaps to remind us of what sin has done.