There are moments when something inside us doesn’t just feel confused, it feels resistant. Not always loud, not always something we would say out loud, but it’s there. We see what is happening, we feel the weight of it, and somewhere underneath the surface, something begins to push back, not just because we don’t understand it, but because it isn’t what we would have chosen.
Up to this point, we’ve wrestled with outcomes, with expectations that didn’t unfold the way we thought they would, with moments that didn’t feel fair, with situations that didn’t make sense. But underneath all of that, there is something deeper, something we don’t always say, but often feel. Who decided this? And more than that, who had the right to decide it? Because if we are honest, we don’t just struggle with what God is doing, we struggle with the fact that we were not the ones who determined it. And that exposes something we don’t always see clearly, not about the situation, but about position.
Scripture does not leave that question open. “The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: ‘Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel.” (Jeremiah 18:1–3 ESV). God does not begin with an explanation. He gives Jeremiah a picture, a potter, a wheel, a lump of clay being formed into a vessel. “And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.” (Jeremiah 18:4 ESV). The potter sees something in the vessel, and he forms it again according to his will, not the clay’s preference, not the clay’s expectation, but as it seemed good to the potter to do.
Then God speaks. “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:5–6 ESV). This is not simply an illustration of power, it is an illustration of right. The potter has the right to shape the clay because the clay belongs to him. He made it, he formed it, he determines what it will become. And God makes the connection unmistakable. As the Creator, He holds that same right over His creation, not partial authority, not shared control, but the right to determine what will be built and what will be broken down.
“If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it…” (Jeremiah 18:7 ESV). “And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it…” (Jeremiah 18:9 ESV). He raises nations and He brings them down. He uses one to judge another. He does not answer to them for how He does it. He is the Potter, and this is where the weight of this begins to press, because this is not just about nations, it is about position, Creator and creation, authority and expectation, obligation that flows from who He is and who we are.
If He is the One who made us, then He has the right to define what He expects from us. And if He has the right to define what He expects, then we are not in a position to negotiate with Him about it. We live under it. Scripture presses this even further. “But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, ‘Why have you made me like this?’” (Romans 9:20 ESV). That question does not invite debate, it exposes position. The clay is not in a place to question the potter, not because it lacks intelligence or perspective, but because it is not the one who formed itself.
And this is where something in us begins to surface, because we do not naturally live as though this is true. We want to understand before we accept. We want to agree before we submit. We want what unfolds to align, at least in part, with what we believe should happen. And when it doesn’t, something inside us begins to press back, not always openly, but quietly and subtly. We begin to measure what God is doing against what we would have done. We begin to ask questions that move beyond understanding and into evaluation, and without realizing it, we step into a place we were never meant to stand, not under Him, but over His actions.
This is where the line is crossed, not when we feel the tension, not when we ask questions, but when we begin to place ourselves in a position to assess whether what He is doing is right. The issue is not just what God is doing, it is whether we accept His right to do it, and that is not always easy for us to face.
Because we live in a world where choice feels central, and in many ways, it is. God, in His sovereignty, chose to give us free will. He did not have to. He could have made us to respond to Him perfectly, without deviation, but He chose to give us the ability to choose. And that means there are moments where we do not choose to live under His will. But even here, His sovereignty is not diminished. Our ability to choose exists because He willed it to exist, and our resistance does not place us outside His sovereignty, it exists within it.
And that means something we do not always sit with long enough. We can resist for a time, but we cannot resist forever, because His sovereignty is not partial, it is not temporary, and it is not dependent on our response. There is a day, set by Him, where what is now resisted will be fully revealed, where what is now questioned will be undeniable, where what is now pushed against will no longer be. “For it is written, ‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’” (Romans 14:11 ESV). Every knee, not some, not most, every.
We will stand before the One who made us, the One who holds the right to rule, the One who has never lost control, never miscalculated, never acted outside His will. And in that moment, His sovereignty will not be debated, it will be recognized, fully and completely. We cannot spurn the Creator with impunity. There is a reckoning that will come, and when it does, we will bow. The question is not if, it is how, as those who have lived under His authority, or as those who resisted it until the end.
And as we sit with this, we are brought back to something simple, but not easy. Not a question about outcomes, not a question about understanding, but a question about position.
God is the Creator. He holds the right to rule, the right to define, the right to act according to His will. That has always been true, whether we have fully recognized it or not.
But this is where it begins to meet us personally. Where have we quietly resisted that right? Where have we found ourselves measuring what He is doing against what we believe should happen? And where have we begun to move, even subtly, from living under Him… to evaluating Him?
This is not about having every answer. It is not about resolving every tension. It is about recognizing who He is, and where we stand before Him.
And from that place, something begins to shift. Not because everything now makes sense, but because we are no longer standing in the wrong position.
As you sit with this today, take a moment to reflect on where this tension has surfaced in your own life. And if you’re willing, share your reflections or questions in the comments so we can learn and walk this journey together.