Transformed by the Loving Hands of the Potter

As a badged volunteer with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, I have an opportunity to mentor inmates in the jails through the Rescued Not Arrested Prison Ministry. Requests for mentoring are made by the inmates through a "tank order", processed through the jail chaplain.

I never go into a mentoring session with a new mentee with a set script or message in mind because mentoring county jail inmates is much more dicey and unpredictable than department of corrections. The jail inmate's situation is fresh and raw. As the legal system's process unfolds around them, uncertainty looms--and the fear is palatable.

However, without fail, somewhere in my first session I deliver a message that their situation is an opportunity to hear God's voice. My aim is to help them realize, despite the darkness of their situation, that God really has rescued them from the certain destruction that their path was on prior to arrest. One message that I like to deliver comes from God's word in the Book of Jeremiah--the Potter's House. Recently,  I started using this message in Rescued Not Arrested's mail mentoring program as well. Below is a message that I shared in a recent letter to an inmate at the Arizona Department of Corrections:   

Hello, Brother Enrique, 

As I read your letter, I wanted to share with you something from God’s word that I found inspiring. If you open your Bible to Jeremiah 18:1-6, it says: “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ 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. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.’

I like this message because it reminds me of how we are all like clay in the loving hands of God the creator. I imagine the potter’s workshop, surrounded by the most beautiful and lovingly created pots on display, each with its own special place on the shelf. The pot he is working on has a special spot already designated for it up among the pots, but it is not finished yet. The potter is shaping it and lovingly working on it, getting it ready for its place amongst his beautiful creations. Wherever the pot gets out of shape or sags, the potter carefully fixes its imperfections and re-shapes it according his plan. No matter how often the pot gets out of shape or marred, the potter can fix it and re-shape it as long as the clay stays soft in his hands. 

We are the same way. As long as we stay soft and willing to submit to the caring hands of God, He can re-shape and smooth out all of our defects. It is when we become hard—when our hearts are hardened—that it becomes impossible for God to shape us. When we do become hardened, God allows things to come into our lives to soften us so that we once again can become as clay in His loving hands.

I am looking forward to hearing back from you and continuing serving with you in God’s victorious army! 

Your brother in Christ,

--Joe

Is there a situation in your life that has hardened your heart to God? Is God trying to use it to soften you so that He can come in and lovingly shape you for the purpose that He has planned for you life? God allows us to break for a reason. Sometimes we have become so hardened that the only way God can soften us is to allow some heat to come into our lives so that we can once again become soft in his loving and transforming hands.

Trust your life in the loving hands of the Potter. He has promised to finish all things that He has started--and He has a spot designated just for you amongst all of the beautiful creations He has on display in His House.

God Bless.