Issue #7 Theme: Still In His Hands: When God Shapes The Leader Before He Uses The Vessel

Quarter #3 Spotlight: “From The Potter’s Hand”

Formation, Refinement, And Surrender – Clay Imagery: A Preview Of Treasure In A Clay Pot (Book #1 Of The “Reflecting Me” Series)

Preview Introduction:

This month’s Leadership Lens begins our Quarter Three journey by taking us to the Potter’s house, where leadership formation begins long before the finished vessel is revealed. “Still In His Hands” reminds us that God is not only concerned with what He accomplishes through us; He is equally concerned with what He develops within us. Before the vessel carries the treasure, the Potter shapes the clay.

What We’re Seeing:

God is calling leaders to embrace formation rather than rush toward visibility. Jeremiah’s visit to the Potter’s house reveals that even when the vessel became marred during the making, it remained in the Potter’s hands. The process was not abandoned. The Potter simply continued shaping the clay according to his intended purpose.

Key Takeaway:

Being unfinished does not mean being unusable. If we are still in the Potter’s hands, He is still working.

Adjusting Focus:

Leadership requires us to examine whether we are still pliable in God’s hands. Experience can become rigidity, success can make correction uncomfortable, and disappointment can harden areas that once surrendered easily. Formation requires leaders to remain teachable, correctable, adaptable, and willing to allow God to reshape what no longer serves His purpose.

Discernment Diamond:

Never become so committed to the shape you have taken that you resist the hands of the One who knows what you are becoming.

Through The Lens:

Jeremiah 18:1-6 reveals a vessel that became marred while still in the Potter’s hands. Rather than discarding the clay, the potter made it again into another vessel as seemed good to him. Our difficult, disappointing, or imperfect seasons do not automatically indicate abandonment. Sometimes they become part of the material God uses to reshape us for His purpose.

Key Takeaway:

The defining question is not whether something has gone wrong, but whether we are still surrendered to the hands of the Potter.

A Closer Look:

2 Corinthians 4:7 reminds us that we carry treasure in earthen vessels so that the excellency of the power may be recognized as belonging to God and not to us. “Treasure In A Clay Pot” explores the relationship between the value of the vessel and the greater significance of what God places within it. Leaders must learn to develop and steward the vessel without ever confusing it with the Treasure.

Key Takeaway:

Honor the vessel, develop the vessel, and protect the vessel – but never forget that its greatest significance comes from the Treasure it has been entrusted to carry.

Point Of Focus:

God may be shaping you in ways that do not resemble anyone else’s process. He may require waiting where others advance quickly, correction where others experience affirmation, or restructuring where you expected expansion. The Potter shapes each vessel according to its intended purpose. We must know within ourselves, “If I am still in His hands, He is still working on me.”

Let’s Magnify The Focus:

This month, leaders are invited to pay closer attention to what God is forming within us before becoming preoccupied with what He will accomplish through us. Formation is not punishment; it is preparation. Pressure, correction, waiting, and realignment can all become instruments in the Potter’s hands when we remain surrendered.

Over the next thirty days, ask God daily, “Lord, what are You shaping in me?” Identify areas where you have resisted correction, release unhealthy comparison, remain open to trusted spiritual counsel, and examine whether your character is developing at the same pace as your influence.

Call-To-Action:

Stay in His hands. Remain teachable. Remain pliable. Remain surrendered. Trust the Potter enough to allow Him to shape the vessel before He expands its assignment.