Broken Pieces in the Potter’s Hands
26 January 2022
Jeremiah was the prophet God assigned to encourage the scattered Israelites struggling in exile in Babylon after King Nebuchanezzar destroyed their temple and homeland. In last Sunday’s sermon, I explored how Jeremiah 31 is a call for us to LAMENT, LEAN IN, AND LOOK FORWARD. In our staff meeting Monday morning, Laura Hawkins kept the Jeremiah theme rolling, sharing a reflection written by Katara Patten and posted on the website Our Daily Bread.
So, thanks to Katara for sharing another perspective about how even in pandemic days, when so much of our expected routines can feel broken, our God is a potter who can take pieces and shape them into something even better!
From Our Daily Bread
“In 1952, in an effort to prevent clumsy or careless people from breaking items in a shop, a Miami Beach storeowner posted a sign that read: ‘You break it, you buy it.’ The catchy phrase served as a warning to shoppers. This type of sign can now be seen in many boutiques. Ironically, a different sign might be placed in a real potter’s shop. It would say: ‘If you break it, we’ll make it into something better.’ And that’s exactly what’s revealed in Jeremiah 18.
“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 18:4
“Jeremiah visits a potter’s house and sees the potter shaping the ‘marred’ clay with his hands, carefully handling the material and forming it into another pot” (v. 4). The prophet reminds us that God is indeed a skillful potter, and we are the clay. God is sovereign and can use what God creates to both destroy evil and create beauty in us.
God can shape us even when we’re marred or broken. God, the masterful potter, can and is willing to create new and precious pottery from our shattered pieces. God doesn’t look at our broken lives, mistakes, and past sins as unusable material. Instead, He picks up our pieces and reshapes them as He sees best.
Even in our brokenness, we have immense value to our Master Potter. In God’s hands, the broken pieces of our lives can be reshaped into beautiful vessels that can be used by the Lord (v. 4).
Question for reflection:
What are some broken pieces of your life you commend to God the Potter to use to create something new? Does the promise that God is actively reshaping even the brokenness of our lives bring you comfort?
Let us pray.
God, You’re the Potter and I’m the clay. Mold me as you desire. Remind me that, in good times and bad, I’m in your skillful and caring hands. Amen