Understanding God's Purpose

Understanding God's Purpose

Jeremiah 18:1-2 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.” (NIV)

           

            The world is full of people who are in search of discovering who they are. They are born being told what they should do, how they should act, where they should go and the way they should think. Although this is good in the sense of training children to be good citizens in society, if not reared up in the ways of the Lord, they will often conform to what they have been taught to be acceptable rather than who they are in God. College students, for instance, often change their major several times because they find that what they once believed was an interesting field of study was not what they thought it would be. Therefore, they go from major to major thinking that they will finally find the perfect field when it is really about understanding their purpose. If many of them knew the plans God had for their lives, they would be able to flow in that area without having self-doubt.

            God has a plan for all of His children. He made us for His divine purpose. Unfortunately, so many people do not understand that God loves them and that He has something special for everyone to do for His glory. This is why many people struggle with low self-esteem, depression, abuse, and various addictions because they do not see the value that God has placed on their lives. Yes! Everyone’s life is valuable in the eyes of God. Why is this? It is because God created us and due to Him loving His creation, He placed a tag of value that was so high, no one could pay the debt but His son Jesus. We were bought with a price and that was through the blood of the Lamb. 1 Corinthians 7:23 You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. (NIV)

            We are oftentimes like the Children of Israel, even though we have been chosen, selected and elected by God to be His special people, we allow the devil to interfere with our relationship with God and fully knowing and understanding who we are in Him. We permit the enemy to come in, turn us into rebels and therefore, remove us from our rightful place in God. Nevertheless, God always has His hands extended to us so that we can know that He loves and cares for us just as He did with Israel.

The Bible tells the story of a man named Abram who found favor with God. He longed to have children, but he and his wife, Sarai, had gone throughout the years with no success. One day, God informed Abram, whose name He later changed to Abraham, that He would end their barren state. God promised Abraham that He would bless him to be the father of many nations. Genesis 12:2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” (NIV) Abraham and Sarah had given up on the idea of ever having children, but through Abraham’s line came his son, Isaac, and then through him came Jacob, whose name God changed to Israel. His descendants became known as the Children of Israel.

            God promised to bless the Children of Israel due to the covenant that He made with their ancestor, Abraham. Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (NIV) God’s only desire was for them to be faithful to Him as a nation, so that they could receive the bountiful blessings that He had in store for them and to set the example for the other nations. Exodus 19:5-6 “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation….” (NIV) Israel, however, did not remain faithful and was repeatedly punished by God due to their rebellious ways. Nevertheless, God sought to restore them back to Himself because of the love He had for them.

            Throughout Israel’s history, God sent prophet after prophet to warn them and their leaders of their idolatrous ways. King Solomon, David’s son, became the ruler of Israel after his father had died, but even though God blessed him to have tremendous amounts of wisdom, he too wandered after the idols of his foreign wives and therefore, brought punishment upon the land of Israel. After Solomon’s death, as prophesied, the nation became divided with ten tribes remaining as Israel and two being that of Judah. The divided nations served foreign gods rather than the God of their fathers and once again, God sent a prophet to warn them of their evil ways.

            Jeremiah was the prophet whom God had chosen to warn the nation of their rebellion against Him. He cautioned that if they continued down the path of unrighteousness, His judgment would overtake them. Even in God’s warnings, He promised that He would be merciful to them if they would just repent and turn from their wicked ways. Jeremiah 4:1-2 “If you will return,” O Israel, return to me,” declares the Lord, “If you put your detestable idols out of my sight and no longer go astray, and if in a truthful, just and righteous way you swear, ‘As surely as the Lord lives,’ then the nations will be blessed by him and in him they will glory.” (NIV)

            God did not want to punish the Children of Israel, but to have them be fully committed to Him as a faithful wife is to her husband. Yet, there were lessons that God had to teach them in order to help them understand the nature of who He was and what His expectations were of them. Therefore, God sent Jeremiah to the potter’s house to impart to the Children of Israel a lesson that HE was the Potter, they were the clay, and that He could form them into whatever vessel that He so chose because He was their Creator. Jeremiah 18:5-6 “O Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (NIV)

            God is still the Potter and we are His clay. Prior to making a vessel, a potter decides what type of clay that he is going to use in order to make the vessel that he so desires. He recognizes that every type of clay does not work for every vessel, but due to his expertise in the field, he knows what works best for his desired outcome. It is the same way with God, our Potter. He has a purpose for our lives prior to us ever coming into being. The Potter does not wait until we come into the world to decide what to do with us. He has already determined what we will be prior to our arrival.

 There are times, however, that we do not bend to the Potter’s will and we go about thinking that we know what’s best for our own lives. We later find ourselves broken into pieces due to having strayed away from the that God intended for us to take. Nevertheless, He is there to pick up our broken pieces because He knows where each one fits, for He created us. When God created Adam, He formed man from the dust of the ground into the image that He wanted him to be and for His intended purpose and pleasure. Genesis 2:7 The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. (NIV) As with clay, that does not take shape until the potter molds it into a work of art, so are we without shape until God sculpts us into being, but never without purpose.

            It is important to understand the kind of vessel that God desires for you to be. Everyone will not be the same vessel, but the Potter has a unique design for everyone. Some clays are easier to mold than others, but everyone is capable of being a masterpiece if they allow the Potter to do His work from the inside out. Isaiah 64:8 Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hand. (NIV)