SSMT: Verse 16

I think I've said this before when talking about SSMT verses...but I've learned not to stress about it if I don't have a new verse in place until the last minute, because that's usually when God shows up with a new one. And this time was no exception.

I was sitting in church yesterday morning when our worship leader, Paula, talked about this verse:

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 18:4

I posted a few days ago a quote I'd read on Denise Hildreth Jones' website about not allowing Satan to steal more from us than he's already taken.

And as I've tried to make sense of what this means for my own life, I've struggled to understand how God could have a plan B.

That's why the words of this verse were such a balm when I heard them in the service yesterday.

But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands...

"Marred" means "destroyed," or "devastated." Yep. I know a thing or two about that! But look at that beautiful follow up phrase - in his hands. Even while my future was being shaped and subsequently devastated, I was never out of His hands. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

...so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

How thankful am I that He didn't throw that pot away? He started over. Gave it new purpose. Came up with a new plan and let that clay have new life.

And I'm counting on the fact that he's doing that for me too. He's forming my life into another pot. Shaping it in a new way that seems best to Him.

And that makes me both humbled and grateful.