The LORD said to me, "Go down to the potter’s house, where I will give you my message." So I went there and saw the potter working at his wheel. Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would take the clay and make it into something else."

Then the LORD said to me, "Don’t I have the right to do with you people of Israel what the potter did with the clay? You are in my hands just like clay in the potter’s hands. If at any time I say that I am going to uproot, break down, or destroy any nation or kingdom, but then that nation turns from its evil, I will not do what I said I would. On the other hand, if I say that I am going to plant or build up any nation or kingdom, but then that nation disobeys me and does evil, I will not do what I said I would. Now then, tell the people of Judah and of Jerusalem that I am making plans against them and getting ready to punish them. Tell them to stop living sinful lives – to change their ways and the things they are doing. They will answer, ‘No, why should we? We will all be just as stubborn and evil as we want to be.’"

Jeremiah 18:1-12

God does know best. He created us. He continues to mold us. When we truly surrender to His will, we do find peace, the kind that only God can give.

Our Daily Bread – January 23, 2002