The process isn’t punishment.

It’s preparation.

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When God’s hands feel heavy…

Have you ever walked through a season where it felt like God was pressing harder than you thought you could bear? A time when the dreams you held dear began to crumble, your confidence wavered, or your heart felt cracked and broken in ways you couldn’t explain?

Those seasons—the ones that squeeze, stretch, and shape us—are never random. They are the Potter’s process. In Jeremiah 18, we are given a vivid picture of how God works in the lives of His people. The prophet Jeremiah describes a scene that God brought him to that captures this truth so vividly:

“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.”
— Jeremiah 18:1–4 (ESV)

In that moment, God revealed something profound: His hands are never idle, even when the vessel looks broken.

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The Potter’s Hands Are Steady

When Jeremiah looked at the clay, he saw imperfection. He saw something that didn’t hold its form. He saw something that had no value. However, when God looked at the clay, He saw possibility. He saw value. He saw the end product, even in the midst of the pressing and molding. 

That’s what His hands do: they reshape what life has marred.

Sometimes we mistake His pressure for punishment, and we spurn the assumed punishment. We assume the breaking means rejection, and we take it personally. But the truth is, the Potter’s pressure is proof of His presence. The Potter’s molding means that we are His chosen vessels! 

In the time of molding, the same hands that press you are the hands that hold you. Remember: He doesn’t crush you to destroy! He presses you to perfect you and transform you more into His image. What a holy and divine calling to be on the Potter’s wheel! 

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Pressure Reveals His Care

If you’ve ever worked with clay, you know it has to stay soft to be molded. The moment it hardens, it resists the Potter’s touch and becomes very difficult to use! God often allows us to feel pressure because it keeps us pliable and soft. And it reminds us that He is still working and moving in our lives. The tension He places on us reminds us that He’s near and still shaping us.

It’s tempting to harden our hearts towards the pressing hands of the Potter. However, I would encourage you with this: God disciplines, presses, and stretches those whom He loves! Hebrews tells us that “For whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Hebrews 12:6, ESV). That verse isn’t about harshness; it’s about formation. When the Lord isn’t refining you, that’s a scary place to be. 

A parent disciplines a child because he loves the child. The parents intention is not to harm, but to guide! When a parent sees behavioral problems that will harm the child in his/her future, the parent addresses the issue with discipline. Likewise, the Potter’s pressure is to work out the crude, rough edges that prevent us from reaching our fullest potential in His will. His molding isn’t cruel. It’s creative.

Maybe you’re in a season that feels like the wheel is spinning and the pressing won’t stop.
Please remember and be encouraged: You’re not being punished. You’re being prepared.

Every spin, every press, every reshaping is intentional and filled with purpose and destiny.
The Potter’s eyes are fixed on the vessel He’s forming, and His hands never leave the clay.

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Staying Soft in His Hands

In Jeremiah’s vision, the clay doesn’t resist. It yields to every pinch, push, and press. That’s the posture God asks of us. He desires for us as His clay to remain soft, even when the process hurts— especially when it hurts and we can’t make sense of the pain.

Softness doesn’t mean weakness; it means willingness. It’s saying, “Lord, even when this feels uncomfortable, I trust You more than I trust my understanding.”

The greatest danger in difficult seasons isn’t the pain—it’s the hardening that can come from it. And this can so easily become our response! When we close off our hearts in self-protection, we stall the process God wants to complete. And, worst case scenario, we become so hardened to His hands that we waste the whole process of molding and become entirely unusable. 

The soft clay, though it feels every press, becomes something beautiful.
The hardened clay, though it may seem protected, becomes unusable.

We get to choose which clay we become. 

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The Beauty of Reworking

I love that Jeremiah 18 says, “The vessel was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it.” He didn’t throw it away. He didn’t give up. He simply began again! He began to shape it into something new, as He saw fit.

That’s grace.

Maybe you’ve had a chapter that didn’t turn out the way you hoped. Maybe you feel marred by disappointment or failure. Maybe your life has taken a shocking or heartbreaking turn! But the Potter still has His hands on you! He has never abandoned you or let the wheel spin out of control, letting you —the clay— spin wildly out of control. He’s been ever-present and always working.

He can rework the story.
He can redeem what feels ruined.
He can reshape your life into something that reflects His glory even more than before.

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Trusting the Process

Can I be honest with you? The process is rarely comfortable, but it is always purposeful. But remember this: the Potter’s wheel is not a place of punishment—it’s a place of transformation and purpose.

Romans 9:21 reminds us: “Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?” When we belong to God, we entrust Him with that right. We trust that He knows what kind of vessel we need to become to fulfill His purpose. 

A lump of clay on a potter’s wheel would never say to the potter, “Stop it! You’re making me wrong! What are you doing? This is my purpose. I need to be molded in this way.” That would be so silly! Yet, we— as His clay on His wheel— tend to forget that God, as the divine Potter and and Creator of life, has the right to do with us as He pleases for His purposes.

The wheel may spin fast. The hands may press deep. But every movement is measured, intentional, and anchored in His great love for us.

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Holding Still in His Hands

The truth is, being molded requires surrender. It asks us to rest in His hand when we’d rather run away, to trust even when we don’t understand, and to let God’s shaping continue especially when it feels uncomfortable.

Sometimes I imagine the Potter humming as He works, completely at peace, confident in what He’s creating. And that’s our invitation: to rest in the rhythm of His hands, knowing He’s never careless with what He’s crafting.

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Reflection

Think:

What area of your life feels like it’s being pressed or reshaped right now? Could it be the Potter’s way of preparing you for something new? How might you need to surrender to Him more?

Pray:

“Lord, when Your hands feel heavy, remind me that You are molding me, not punishing me. Keep my heart soft in Your hands, and let the pressure form in me the character and purpose You designed. I repent for any hardness that has developed in my heart towards your molding. I trust the process because I trust You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.