“The Potter’s House: Becoming the Vessel You Were Meant to Be”
There is a moment in the book of Jeremiah when the prophet is taken to the house of the potter. He watches as the clay in the potter’s hands begins one way, but then shifts. The potter changes course and shapes something altogether different. Traditionally, this story is used to affirm God’s freedom — that God can change direction with Israel as a potter does with clay.
But the story also offers another invitation. It whispers something about us — about the choices we hold and the responsibility we carry within the whole.
Each of us enters this world with intention. There are tasks to fulfill, experiences meant to shape us, and contributions that only we can make. Yet, we do not always choose in line with that intention. Sometimes we resist, sometimes we delay, and sometimes we simply don’t recognize what is before us. But when something is essential for our growth, it returns. It will find another doorway until we are ready to embrace it.
This is the mystery of our journey: we are never separate from the whole. Our individuality is not isolation but expression. The whole depends on every unique part to live fully, to bring forth its own fruit, to allow its own shaping. What the potter reminds us is this: the clay and the potter are not separate. The one working and the one being worked upon are of the same source.
So the question is not only, What is the potter shaping me into? but also, What am I allowing myself to become?Individuation — becoming uniquely who you are meant to be — is itself a sacred task. The whole cannot be complete without your part.
Yes, there may have been an original intention for your life, but you hold within you the power to choose. Those choices matter — not only for your fulfillment, but for the enrichment of the whole. Just as the potter always produces a vessel, so too your life must produce fruit.
The invitation of this passage is clear:
- To honor the unique shaping of your journey.
- To remember that even in detours, the whole is enriched by your becoming.
- To recognize that your life is not wasted, but necessary for the flourishing of all.
As you reflect on Jeremiah’s vision of the potter, consider: What vessel is your life becoming? What fruit are you allowing to take shape? And how might your choices today serve not only yourself, but the wholeness we share?