“ 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 18:3-4

Beloved, if you ever gave a lift to somebody on a bike and the person, out of fear of falling, tries to direct you by making you bend on one side and then on another one, you certainly know how disturbing and utterly risky that can turn out to be.

Sadly enough, most of human beings, including Christians, behave that way with God. He knows where he is taking us and he knows the way better than we do. Yet, rather than trusting him wholeheartedly and following him without questioning, we often behave as if He should bend his leadership style to accommodate our feelings, desires and wants, not knowing that such an attitude is the best recipe for failing woefully.

A visit to the potter’s workshop offers us the pedagogy of understanding what our attitude as clay should be in the most able hands of the universal potter. Shaping is one key prerogative of every potter and they can only shape what is soft, flexible, malleable. Any clay that will offer too much resistance to the shaping ability of the potter will not end up a nice pot, but rather a debris that will subsequently undergo the pressing pound of the hammer, the dissolving and melting feeling of water and the painful petrifying potter’s hand before it can expect to have a second chance.

Oftentimes, when things are not moving in the direction of our will, it may be that the Universal Potter is trying to mold us differently so we can fit his purpose. When sickness or some other misfortunes strike or the so much yearned for promotion is taking more time to happen, that may be the sign of God slowing us down so that we don’t miss the greatest opportunities he has in store for us. What most of us lack generally is the culture of checking in every situation if it serves the will of God. Once we know that, it becomes easy to obediently follow his leading which will lead but to a good destination.

Let’s pray, Father, today as clay I yield myself to you, trusting your most able hand to mold me to fit your will so I can fulfill my destiny. Thank you, Lord.