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The Potter’s Wheel: Embracing the Process of Refinement

God’s process isn’t punishment; it’s preparation. Stay on the wheel, endure the fire, and trust His hands. You’re being shaped into a vessel of honor for His use.

You walk into a potter’s workshop. The air smells of clay and wood shavings. In the corner, a craftsman sits at his wheel. He places a lump of raw, shapeless clay in the center and begins to press, spin, and mold.

At first, the clay resists. It wobbles. It threatens to collapse. But the potter keeps working, hands steady and firm.

Sometimes he applies pressure. Other times, he gently smooths the surface.

Slowly, methodically, patiently, the potter is shaping the clay to withstand the fire and serve a greater purpose. 

God is the potter. You are the clay.

In Isaiah 64:8, we see this picture: “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Of course, being clay isn’t always comfortable.

The spinning feels chaotic.
The pressure feels painful.
The pruning, the discipline, and the waiting might not be the life we imagined.

But every twist of the wheel is intentional. God is shaping you for a purpose you can’t fully see yet.

Think about heroes like Joseph, Moses, David, and even Jesus!

Before their public callings came decades of preparation.

They spent years on the wheel, where character was formed, pride was stripped away, and obedience was refined.

Pressure is how God makes you strong enough to carry His calling.

Making a beautiful vessel requires craftsmanship and heat. 

The potter shapes the pot, but the fire strengthens it. 

The heat hardens us, strengthens us, and transforms us into something beautiful and useful.

1 Peter 1:6-7 says, “In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief… These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold—may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

The process isn’t punishment; it’s preparation.

What part of your life feels like it’s spinning out of control?
Where are you resisting the potter’s hands?
What if this season isn’t meant to break you but to build you into a vessel of honor, ready for every good work (2 Timothy 2:21)?

Surrender. Stay on the wheel. Trust the process… Or rather, trust the Potter.

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