Reshaping

Jeremiah 18:3-4:  "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."

Jeremiah was a prophet that lived in Jerusalem six hundred years before Christ.  To be sure, it was a very difficult time for the true prophet of God, for the people of that day were quite rebellious against the LORD.  They chose to follow their wicked desires rather than submitting themselves to the plans that God had for them as His chosen people.  Even as God was commissioning Jeremiah to be a prophet heralding His truth, God told the prophet that the people would "fight against (him)" (Jeremiah 1:19).  They did not want to hear truth; rather, they wanted their own approved priests and prophets to continue exonerating their wicked ways so that they might feel vindicated in the evil decisions that they were making.  These rebellious people lashed out at Jeremiah with their tongues, they ignored anything that he had to say, and they determined to capture him in hopes of destroying the messenger of God (Jer. 18:18-22).

God sent Jeremiah to observe the workings of a potter in Jerusalem to illustrate how He Himself would handle His people, whom He had crafted to be His chosen people to bring forth His oracles and ultimately His Messiah.  They were designed to be a people of distinction, a bastion of light in an otherwise dark and evil world.  They were to be faithful to His will for them as was proclaimed by His prophets, and they were to produce the fruits of righteousness and holiness to bring Him glory.

As Jeremiah observed the potter working with the clay, hoping to fashion it into his intended purpose, the material suddenly lost its form and was marred.  One can only imagine the frustration that the potter might have had, seeing that all the time and effort he had invested in his project did not yield the intended product (a pot).   Now, the craftsman was determined to start again, reshaping the clay into something different (another pot), so that it would be useful for his purposes.  He would not permit the clay to exist simply as unshaped material; rather, the potter would make certain that it would fulfill His purposes for it.  Nothing would frustrate the potter's ultimate plan for the clay!

Ultimately for the Israelites, God would reshape His people through judgment rather than the blessings He had given them over the years.  God had desired to use His people through His provision and protective blessings for them, but the people in their prosperity had forsaken the very Hand that had brought the abundant blessings to them in the first place.  Now God would use His judgment upon them, so that His plans and purposes would prevail.  He knew that the only way to get the attention of His wayward people was to bring hardship, trials, and tribulations . . . this was His re-crafting of His "clay."

This is a good word for us.  We must understand that the "plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations" (Ps. 33:11).   We may find ourselves attempting to defy His will for us, but we will never prevail in our stubborn disobedience.  God will take us, much like a potter with his clay, and begin recrafting us to serve His purposes.  If His blessings will not cause us to respond with singular devotion to Him and His will for us, then His judgments will.  We would be wise to understand that we will not be able to frustrate Him, for He is the Sovereign Lord over all things, and His plans will be accomplished.  It would be much better for us to capitulate our wills to His glorious will, so that His intended purposes for us would be fulfilled without His having to reshape us all over again.