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God Is a Good Father: Learning to Trust His Hands in the Hard Seasons

Discover how every trial, delay, and detour shapes you into His design.

Author

Anchored in Faith
October 12, 2025

Anchor of the Week

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." – Romans 8:28 (NIV)

This Week’s Message

We’ve all been there. You strive and work really hard to achieve a goal, pour everything you’ve got into it, and once you finally reach it, you realize it kinda falls short of how you actually thought it would be. The satisfaction you feel doesn’t quite meet the mark of expectation. That’s because the joy isn’t found in the destination, it’s in the journey that God takes us through to get there.

Each twist and turn, each delay, every heartbreak, all those are the places where we grow. Life is full of tests. Some we may pass, others we fail miserably. But if we never failed, we’d never learn. We’d never discover who we are in Christ or how much our Heavenly Father loves us through all of it.

God’s goodness isn’t proven by how easy our life feels. It’s revealed through His patience, His mercy, and His ability to shape our mistakes into meaning. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love” (Psalm 103:8, NIV).

He gave us the incredible gift of free will, the ability to choose. To choose faith over fear. To choose growth over comfort. To choose Him over everything else. God isn’t a dictator; He’s a good Father. He doesn’t force our love, He invites it. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17, NIV).

He always wants the best for us, even when the path to get there feels unbelievably hard. And while some may walk away, especially when it feels hard, those who stay discover something truly beautiful: that our Father’s love never wavers, even when we do.

This week’s video serves as a gentle reminder of gratitude for the journey itself.
Take a few minutes today to rest in His goodness and thank Him for walking with you every step of the way.

Bible Story: Jeremiah and the Potter’s Wheel — Shaped by the Father’s Hands

(Jeremiah 18:1–6)

God sent the prophet Jeremiah to the house of a potter to teach him a lesson that still speaks to us today. As Jeremiah watched, the potter shaped a lump of clay on his wheel. But as he worked, the clay became flawed. The vessel wasn’t turning out the way it was intended. Instead of discarding it, the potter patiently pressed, reshaped, and began again. He didn’t throw the clay away; he remade it into something new and beautiful.

Then God spoke to Jeremiah and said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does? Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand.”

That’s the Father’s heart. He doesn’t toss us aside when we crack under pressure or crumble in the process. He doesn’t abandon us when we fail the same test again and again. Instead, He takes us back to the wheel. He reshapes us with His steady hands, molding us through life’s trials until His purpose is formed within us.

Every setback we have, every delay, every disappointment is a part of His shaping process. What feels like our lives breaking in two is often our becoming. The spinning wheel represents our journey, the ups and downs, the uncertainty, and the refinement. And through it all, our Father’s hands never leave us.

Jeremiah’s vision reminds us that we’re not defined by our flaws but by the One who forms us. God’s goodness isn’t found in sparing us from the process; it’s in His promise to finish the work He started.

“Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” – Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)

And that’s the beauty of it, every spin, every shaping, every stretch is proof that we’re still in the hands of a good Father.

Reflections: Lessons from the Potter’s Wheel

Psalm 103:8 (NIV) “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
God’s love doesn’t run out when we make mistakes; it rises to meet us there. Like a patient Father, He doesn’t give up when we resist; He waits until we’re ready to be shaped again.

Proverbs 3:12 (NIV) “For the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”
Discipline isn’t punishment; it’s love in action. Every trial is His way of teaching us to trust, shaping us into the people who reflect His strength and character.

Isaiah 64:8 (NIV) “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
We are the clay in God’s hands. Every trial we go through is a touch of His craftsmanship. He’s not breaking us apart; He’s building something beautiful, something only His love could design.

Faith-Building Reads on God’s Fatherly Love and Growth Through Trials

As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases, but I only recommend books that draw hearts closer to God and deepen your walk with Him.

Final Thoughts

The destination is never the goal, but the transformation that is. It’s the journey that refines us, humbles us, and draws us closer to our Heavenly Father, who never stops working on our hearts.

We may not always understand the “why” behind all of our struggles, but what we can trust is the Who behind our story.

So remember: God is not finished with you. The same hands that shaped the stars are constantly shaping you according to His plan, which is patient, purposeful, and with perfect love.

Take a moment this week to thank Him, not just for the blessings, but for the lessons they bring. Because every trial, every triumph, every turn of the wheel is proof that your life is still being molded by a good Father.

See you here next Sunday. Keep the faith, stay teachable, and rest in His goodness.
God Bless you~ Amber