The Weight of the Potter's Hand

Jeremiah 18:2 -6 "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 there he was, making something at the wheel. 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.

Not only do I write a daily blog/devo, I also get a few that I have subscribed to as well and the Scripture in one of them was this passage from Jeremiah 18. As I read it, I realized I am back on the potter's wheel and I'm starting to get dizzy! The verse that sticks out to me are "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.

A "mar" is a disfiguring mark; a blemish. "Marred" is to inflict damage, especially disfiguring damage on; to impair the soundness, perfection, or integrity of; spoil. Now, I am not a Bible scholar, so when some verse sticks out to me, I do the only thing I know to do and that is read it in several versions of the Bible. So, here we go!

⁴And 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. (Amplified Bible)

⁴ But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. (New Living Translation)

⁴ His hands were shaping a pot out of clay. But he saw that something was wrong with it. So he formed it into another pot. He shaped it in the way that seemed best to him.  (New International Reader's Version)

Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot. (The Message)

Life causes "marring". Our choices cause "marring". And it would seem that God causes "marring" but it is "marring" with a purpose. When He sees those blemishes and imperfections in us, He chooses to not let them stay there but rather remove them by starting over. Theologically for me, it may not make a whole lot of sense but spiritually, I feel the weight of the potter's hand on my life, even as I type this, re-forming my life and my dreams and re-working my thoughts and my ideas. I'm not gonna lie, it's a painful process and everything within you wants to scream out in pain but graciously, the potter's hand never leaves the wheel! As we go round and round, as he molds and forms us, His hand never leaves the wheel!! That is good news friend!

Ultimately, the Potter will make me into the vessel that He wants me to be, blemish free in eternity. But on this side of heaven, I think me and the potter's wheel will become really good friends! I am feeling the weight of the potter's hands today and you may be as well. While it may be tough, His eyes are always on us and His hands are always near!

This is an awesome demo of clay being molded into something great and it has Darlene Zschech singing Potter's Hand as well! Enjoy!