In the 18th chapter of the book of Jeremiah the Lord is portrayed as a potter. The prophet is sent to the potter’s house, not to preach a sermon as before to the gates of Jerusalem, but to prepare a sermon, or rather to receive it ready prepared. His instructions were concise and clear.
Jer 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
It’s important in ministry; as we are accustomed to preaching, and teaching, and directing, and guiding; to stop and realize that God has words for us. He has words specifically for me, and words specifically for you.
Jeremiah was a prophet who had received message after message from God to deliver to the people. Some were messages of warning, some of judgment, and others, words of encouragement. It would have been easy for Jeremiah to get tunnel vision and simply worry about the people, and neglect what God was saying to him.
Have you ever met someone who has the answers for EVERYBODY else? They know the answers to YOUR problems, and the solutions to THIS one’s dilemma, and the resolutions to THAT one’s predicament. But they never seem to look in the mirror. They work on everyone else’s splinters while they themselves have a beam in their eye. It’s easy to do. But Jeremiah was always sensitive to what God was saying to him. Jeremiah is the only one in the scriptures who wrote, “Thus sayeth the Lord unto me.”
He understood that the words of God are…
A devouring flame
A saving power
A Life-giving force
Crushing hammer
A defensive weapon
A two-edged sword
Warren Wiersbe said, “The remedy for discouragement is the Word of God. When you feed your heart and mind with its truth, you regain your perspective and find renewed strength.”
Jeremiah, obeying God’s command, goes down to the Potter’s House. It is here he witnesses a beautiful picture of life. The potter was working at the wheel. He began with a lump of clay and a vision or a plan; and Jeremiah is watching as He begins to form the clay into the vessel that he desires.
God does the same with us. The psalmist wrote…
Psa 139:13 & 14 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
The word possess here meant, not to own, but to literally create. Reins meant kidneys, but signified the mind, and soul, affections and passions.
Albert Barnes articulated it this way, “The meaning here is, that God had made him; that the innermost recesses of his being had been constituted as they are by God.”
The Lord reiterates this when he speaks to Jeremiah in Chapter 1.
Jer 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
In this dialogue with the prophet, we see God, not only as the creator and designer of the body, but the visionary of the use of the vessel. I made you, in your mothers womb, but not only that, I have sanctified you and ordained you to be a prophet. God is not just your creator, but he has a plan for your life.
Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts (plans) that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
The book of Jeremiah takes us on a rollercoaster ride also known as the unfaithfulness of Israel. Israel rebels. Judgement is pronounced. Mercy is expressed. Israel rebels. Judgment is pronounced. Mercy is expressed. In one of these expressions of mercy, the Lord appeals to His people. “Hey! Don’t you realize I have a plan for you!?”
NEWSFLASH: The Lord’s plan is always perfect.
Deu 32:4 His work is perfect:
Psa 18:30 His way is perfect:
Rom 12:2 His will is perfect
Unfortunately, there are times when we prevent His work and His will and His way, from reigning in our lives. Instead we let other things in that separate us from His original design. That’s why we have broken homes, and children taken away from their parents. That’s why we have jail cells and drug rehabs. Those things were never the idea of the potter to begin with. Sin may be a part of your testimony and the depths from which He saved you may bring Glory to His name, but sin is NOT a part of His plan. His plan was and is perfect.
Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter:
Whether it was a pebble or a piece of straw, something got into the clay and marred it. It marred the entire vessel in such a way that it was not usable. There are times that we are so marred, we cannot fulfill the original intention of the Potter. There are men who God intended to fill a certain position in His kingdom, but sin took them to a place where that become impossible. There are women that God needed on the mission field but their decisions have put them in a place where they are unusable in that capacity. But this is what I love about the Potter…
Jer 18:4 …so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
He put it into another form and another shape and made it into another vessel…that would now render it usable again: He repurposed it.
Repurposing is extremely popular right now. People take things that were originally intended to be one thing, and use them for something completely different. If you google “wood pallet” you quickly move from images of a shipping base, to couches and beds and wall hangings. Ladders are being used for bookshelves. Tennis rackets are being turned into mirrors. Bathtubs are transforming into sofas.
What are you saying Andrew? I’m saying this. I hope you are still rolling in your originally purpose. I hope the Potter had an idea and it’s still spinning between his hands. But if not…if your choices, or maybe even the choices of others, have disqualified you from God’s original plan for your life, the potter knows how to repurpose the vessel.
Jer 18:4 …so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
God is not finished with you. There may have been some deviation from his original plan but the potter can still mold that same lump of clay into a new vessel that can be used a different way; and more importantly, a vessel that can still be used for His glory.
-AG
Andrew Gonzalez 
One response to “Repurposed”
Thank you Andrew for this God inspired message. It is true.Our Heavenly Father took me, a broken and shattered vessel, and gave me the job that is beyond anything I could have ever hoped for. He gave me the opportunity to serve others at the worst time of their lives. What God has done for me, He will do for others.
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