the master potter.

You ever hear the statement, “God won’t give you more than you can handle”? I know I have. Multiple times. I even gave it out to friends when they would ask me for advice for certain situations they were/are going through. But, in all reality, this statement is not in the Bible. The Bible does state that God won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear, but that is not the same as God giving us more than we can handle.

1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV says,

13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

The crazy part is that God will sometimes allow more and more and more and more. Maybe as you sit here reading this, you can relate. Maybe life hasn’t been just right for you. Maybe it has even been a little cruel to you. Disappointment upon disappointment. Failure after failure. Heartbreak upon heartbreak. Hurt upon hurt. Diagnosis on top of diagnosis. Whatever it is that you are currently facing, you are NOT alone. In fact, the Bible has dozens of people who were given more than they can handle. Let’s take a look at the Apostle Paul:

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NIV says,

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia.We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.

It’s pretty clear to me in the above passage that Paul didn’t even desire to live because he was being pushed too far over the limit of what he would physically, mentally and probably emotionally endure, but I love the ending of verse 9, “But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” You see, God doesn’t want us to rely solely on our own strength, but on His. Sometimes God will allow things to happen in our lives so that we could realize the truth our own insufficiency without Him.

You and I could sit here all day- probably even days- complaining and trying to figure out why life isn’t suppose to be this way, it’s not suppose to be this hard. We could spend the day thinking about everything we didn’t know and if we were ever going to feel better, but that isn’t going to get us anywhere. So instead, we should start thinking about things we DO know.

God is good. You may not know every detail of God’s plan for your life, but you can definitely start with His goodness. We all are going to face difficult moments in our lives. Maybe some of you already have and you are still picking up the pieces from it. Some of them will be things that we cannot control- car accidents, medical illnesses, addictions, heartbreaks- and some of them will be because we caused them. But if we can change our thinking and see the eventual good that God has in mind for us, then we can trust that He will pull us out of this pit.

Yes, God will give us more than we can handle. That is the truth. But Lysa Terkeurst puts it this way, “But God see the exact pieces and parts that must be added right now to protect us, provide for us, and prepare us with more and more of His strength working through us.”

You ever heard of the word “grog?” Yeah. Me either. But in the pottery world, grog is a type of dust that comes from broken pieces of pottery that must be shattered just right. If the dust is shattered too finely, it won’t add structure to the new clay and if it’s not shattered enough, the grog will be too coarse and make the potter’s hands bleed. But if it is shattered just right, the grog added to the new clay will enable the potter to form the clay in a larger and stronger vessel. It can go through fires much hotter and when glazed, these pieces end up having a much more beautiful, artistic look to them.

You may be wondering how this dust talk can speak to you during your season of suffering, but let me ask you this: What if all this dust in my life currently could be used to create this beautifully broken piece?

Isaiah 45:9 NCV says,

9 “How terrible it will be for those who argue with the God who made them.
They are like a piece of broken pottery among many pieces.
The clay does not ask the potter,
‘What are you doing?’
The thing that is made doesn’t say to its maker,
‘You have no hands.’

God is making something beautiful out of your life. So, why question what He sees as the necessary ingredients to make life your stronger? Even our brokenness can be used for our good. You see, if you allow it, the broken pieces of pottery- like in the above verse- can just lie on the ground and be nothing but a constant reminder brokenness. It can just sit there staying broken and hurting anyone that comes to pick up, or we can place it into the Master Potter’s hands and trust Him to shatter it just right to be used in the remolding and shaping of making you stronger and even more beautiful. When you realize this, you’ll understand that in all your circumstances God is keeping you moldeable while adding even more strength and beauty to the process.

Some of the things we will go through isn’t a result of God doing it to us, its the result of living in this broken world, but God certainly will use it.

Now that we know to surrender our brokenness to Him so that He can make use of it, how exactly do we do it?

Seek Him.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 NIV says,

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listento you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,”

When we seek God, we see God. We may not see His physical form, but we do see Him at work in our lives. We even start to see what He sees. Our trust for Him grows and if we are willing, He will entrust to us more of His perspective. If we want to see Him in our circumstances, we must seek Him, His ways and His Word. And that my friends, is where we find His good promises and plans for our lives.

It’s easy for us to slip into the mentality that we somehow slipped through the cracks of God’s plans. Or that maybe His goodness doesn’t apply to us. The doctor told us it’s impossible, we are too poor, we are too old, our heart is too hurt, we have too many unanswered prayers… My dear friend, God is closer than we think. He sees all things from where he sits and he desires to use ALL THINGS for our benefit.

Isaiah 46:3-4, 9-11 NIV says,

3 “Listen to me, you whom I have upheld since your birth,
and have carried since you were born.
4 Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
9 I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.’
11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
what I have planned, that I will do.

In everything that go through and will go through in the future, I trust the Great I AM. What brings me comfort in my suffering is knowing that God will use it all for good. Yes, He will give us more than we can handle, but it’s not our burden to carry. It’s His. He can handle all the things I can’t. But I trust Him to take my broken pieces and make them beautiful.

Isaiah 64: 8

Yet you, Lord, are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.