Thesis
Many Christians carry the distorted, culturally imported belief that God has a single, hidden, highly specified plan for their lives — and that any sin, failure, or storm has permanently disqualified them from it. Pastor Chris Hilken uses Jeremiah 18's potter-and-clay image to dismantle this myth, arguing instead that God's will is a broad, relational rhythm summed up in Micah 6:8 — do justice, love mercy, walk humbly — and that when we kick off the wheel, God's character is not to discard but to redeem, reshape, and ultimately use our scars for His glory.
Key points
- 1
God's will for your life is a relational rhythm — do justice, love mercy, walk humbly — not a secret choreography of specific steps you must hit perfectly.
- 2
The potter-and-clay image in Jeremiah 18 reveals that when we kick off the wheel of God's purposes, His response is not to discard us but to pick us up and reshape us.
- 3
God redeems when we rebel — no sin you have committed has 'out-sinned' the grace of the cross, and His gifts and calling on your life are irrevocable.
- 4
Refusing to receive God's forgiveness — insisting on prolonged shame after He has declared you forgiven — is not piety; it is pride that sets yourself up as a higher judge than God.
- 5
Our scars are not meant for shame; they are meant for God's glory — the church overcomes by the blood of the Lamb and the power of our testimony.
- 6
God is immutable — the same character He showed in redeeming wayward Israel is the character He shows toward you today.
Outline
The Mercury Seeping In
Pastor Chris introduces the series premise using the historical 'mad hatter' illustration: just as mercury nitrate seeped into hatmakers' bodies and poisoned them, cultural ideas seep into the church. He frames the problem through Luther's 'two kingdoms' — we spend far more time immersed in the left-hand kingdom than in God's right-hand kingdom.
The Distortion: God's Hidden, Fragile Will
He names the specific myth: 70% of Christians believe they have missed or fallen off a tightly specified, secret will of God because of their own sin, others' failures, or life's storms. He illustrates the anxiety and paralysis this produces, drawing on his own experience of losing his wife to suicide in 2021.
The Potter's House — Jeremiah 18
Walking through Jeremiah 18:1-6, Pastor Chris shows that God sends Jeremiah to the Valley of Gehenna — a place of judgment and refuse — to watch a potter whose clay kicks off the wheel. The shocking twist: instead of discarding the marred clay, the potter picks it up and reshapes it, revealing that God's character is redemption, not rejection.
Point 1 — God's Will Is a Rhythm, Not a Recital
Using the contrast between a choreographed recital and a father watching his daughter dance freely at a wedding, Pastor Chris argues that God's revealed will (Micah 6:8) is broad and relational — do justice, love mercy, walk humbly — not a shell-game of hidden, occupation-specific instructions. Almost any honest vocation can be lived inside that will.
Point 2 — God Redeems When We Rebel
Pastor Chris establishes from Psalm 37, Romans 11:29, and Proverbs 3:5-6 that God's calling is irrevocable and His grace is deeper than any sin. He cites C. S. Lewis to show that refusing to receive forgiveness is not spiritual humility but pride — it sets us up as a higher tribunal than God Himself.
Point 3 — Scars Are for Glory, Not Shame
Rather than simply burying past failures, God uses the cracks and fractures in our lives to shine His light to others. The church overcomes by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11), so every time the enemy brings up our past, we can turn it into a declaration of God's redemptive goodness.
Memorable moments
the cross doesn't secure a perfect plan, it secures a perfect savior
if God calls you forgiven and you say you're not, I'm not sure that's a great idea because what does that do? If God is the great judge of all things and he goes, Christopher, you're forgiven and then I go, I don't think I am. What am I doing? I'm going, oh, nice judgment and now let me tell you about your judgment, it wasn't great
It is not religious zeal and vigor and perception and piety that when God calls you forgiven that you say, no, I'm not. It's pride
Anything else that you wanna bring up that I can help God's people recognize the goodness of the God that I serve
there was no such thing as a sin that you've committed that has out sinned the grace of the cross
Application
Pastor Chris calls us to stop living in fear that we have permanently fallen off some hidden divine tightrope. The practical takeaway is threefold: First, embrace the freedom of God's revealed will — do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly (Micah 6:8) — and trust that almost every honest path in life can be walked inside those boundaries. Second, receive God's forgiveness fully; clinging to shame after He has declared you forgiven is not humility but pride. Third, stop treating your past failures as disqualifiers and start offering them as testimony. Every time your past is thrown in your face, you can redirect it: 'Yes — and God redeemed me anyway.' The church advances not by perfect obedience to a secret script but by the blood of the Lamb and the power of stories that declare, 'I once was blind and now I see.'
