Living in the middle of North Carolina, I regularly deal with clay in the part of my garden that wasn’t seeded with rocks by the builder. Even planting daffodils is a challenge, but I persist because they’re worth it.
The talented artists at Seagrove Pottery use the same clay that permeates my yard to produce some amazing creations, drawing me back to the image of God forming and shaping Adam from clay in the Garden of Eden.
I assume somewhere in my past there was an attempt to make an ashtray out of clay, though I don’t remember it. I suspect my “creation” was quietly discarded, as we never found it in my parents’ things. That lump of clay deserved to be shaped by someone with far more skill than me.
One of my favorite descriptions of God and His relationship with mankind comes from Jeremiah 18:1–6. The Bible describes the nation of Israel as a clay pot shaped by God’s hands as seemed best to Him.
The Potter Is In Control
Throughout the process – from inception to finished product – the potter is in control. The God Who created the universe is in control of your life. Psalm 24:1 tells us “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;’
The Potter Is Patient
The potter carefully shapes the clay, patiently correcting flaws without discarding it. Some clay yields easily, while other clay resists—but all remain in the potter’s hands. God is patient when we sin, seeking to draw us back to Him. 2 Peter 3:9 states that God’s goal is that we all come to repentance and a restored relationship with Him.
The Potter Has A Purpose
Each piece is formed, refined, and finished according to both its condition and the potter’s purpose. The finished vessel reflects the potter’s loving design as the clay yields to His hands. We are God’s masterpieces, created in Christ to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).
Trust The Potter’s Plan
All of creation is being shaped by the same faithful Potter Who is also shaping us. The God Who formed mankind from clay has a purpose for your life.
Consider the words of “Have Thine Own Way, Lord”, a hymn written in 1907 based on our focal passage:
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
The last verse of the Jeremiah 18 passage says, “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.”
The God who formed you (Psalm 139:13-16) is still at work—shaping you as His servant, and using you as an instrument in shaping others.
What area of your life is God still shaping today? Yield it to the Potter and trust His hands.
Prayer: Father, let me yield to Your direction as You lovingly form and shape me into an instrument for Your use. Amen.