We are a disposable culture. Pampers have replaced washable and reusable cloth diapers. Paper plates, cups, and cutlery have saved people time and effort at the sink washing dishes. Printer cartridges are one and done components, in fact, sometimes one can replace a printer more cost effectively than buying an ink cartridge.

On the other hand perhaps you practice the concepts of “reduce, recycle, reuse, or repurpose.” Learning to find new applications for used up products can save lots of money and can also keep our earth a little “greener.” Yard sales and thrift shops are economic pluses for both sellers and buyers. Twice a year, our church conducts our “Encore Shop” in which new or gently used items sell at a bargain price, finding new life for the items and providing valuable resources for the buyers.

As I thought about the blessings of the most recent Encore Shop, I remembered a walk God and Jeremiah took which we find recorded in Jeremiah 18:1-6. God allowed Jeremiah to observe a patient potter working with uncooperative lump of clay. Rather than throwing away the lump and starting fresh with new clay, the potter continued until he finally fashioned it into a vessel that was both beautiful and useful. The reminder was the He does the same with us.

When your life seems to be spinning out of control, consider that you may be spinning on the pottery wheel of the Master Artisan. When you feel squeezed, consider it rather to be the gentle pressure of His loving hands forming you into a more Christ-like image. When life seems to get a little hot, consider it the blast furnace that eventually solidifies and sets your heart for His purposes.

The Master Craftsman is at work in your life. You are His masterpiece. He has so much invested in you and your outcome is certain and glorious even if the process is difficult and unclear. While in the Potter’s Hand, listen for His voice in His Word, look for His work in your circumstances, and learn to trust in His providential plan working out His purpose for your life.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. – Ephesians 2:10

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. – Philippians 1:6