V 1.
These are the words which came to Jeremiah from the Lord:

Jeremiah makes it very clear that the words he has to say are not his own, but from God.

V 2
Go down at once to the potter's house, and there I will tell you what I have to say.

God doesn't always make his will clear to us in a way we might expect.  Sometimes he asks us to do something that may seem totally unrelated to our normal work..  He asks our obedience first before he trusts us with any message, as he did with Jeremiah.  Obviously, Jeremiah was humble enough to go where God asked him, without questioning.

V 3, 4.
So I went down to the potter's house and found him working at the wheel. Now and then a vessel he was making out of the clay would be spoilt in his hands, and then he would start again and mould it into another vessel to his liking.

On a visit to Turkey a few years ago, we watched a potter at the wheel and saw the skill with which he shaped his pots.  I was able to try using the wheel myself - and found it wasn't easy.  My 'pot' was a total disaster.  I didn't have to throw it away - it threw itself off the wheel of its own accord,  much to the great amusement of the group we were travelling with!

Jeremiah's mind was open to the leading of the Lord.  He observed the potter at work with interest.  While God wants us to be 'tunnel-visioned' and fully focused in following the mission and ministry he has given each one of us, he also wants us to be open-minded enough to see possibilities in whatever situation he sends us.  Sometimes it takes a 'wide open mind' to see possibilities in a situation or even that at first may appear totally irrelevant.

I remember an article I read which said that God loves FAT people (I've since seen variations on this one, but all similar):

V 5.
Then the word of the Lord came to me:

Only after Jeremiah was obedient and showed that he was open to God, did God give him the message as he watched the potter at work.

V 6.
Can I not deal with you, Israel, says the Lord, as the potter deals with his clay?  You are clay in my hands like the clay in his, O house of Israel.

God first reminds the Israelites - and us - that he is the one in charge.  He made us, and he has the right to do with us as he wishes.

V 7, 8
At any moment I may threaten to uproot a nation or a kingdom, to pull it down and destroy it. But if the nation I have threatened turns back from its wicked ways, then I shall think better of the evil I had in mind to bring on it.
NLT.  If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, but then that nation renounces its evil ways (NIV: repents of its evil), I will not destroy it as I had planned.

Since God has a perfect right to do whatever he wishes with any nation or kingdom (or church?), he has the right to decide to destroy it - and he also has the right to change his mind.  God makes it clear that he is not an unjust tyrant.  If a nation or kingdom changes its ways and becomes obedient, God will be gracious and allow that nation to continue (with its free will).

We belong to God.  Praise him that he is a God of grace and mercy.

Quest Study Bible dictionary:
p. 1744.  Grace.  Unmerited favour, unearned benefit, undeserved kindness.  God's amazing gift of forgiveness of sins and power to live with dignity in the present and with hope for the future.
p 1746.  Mercy.  Compassion and kindness shown to someone instead of severity, especially to someone who doesn't deserve it.
(I sometimes get grace and mercy confused.)

V 9, 10.
Or at any moment I may decide to build or plant a nation or a kingdom. But if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, I shall think better of the good I had in mind for it.
NLT.  And if I announce that I will build up and plant a certain nation or kingdom, making it strong and great, but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless that nation as I had said I would.

The reverse applies equally: God is in charge.  He can set up a nation to be his own special people (as he did with the Israelites and the kingdom of David), but that does not give them licence to choose to be disobedient and still expect God's favour. What God sets up, he can  - and has the right to - destroy.

God had made covenants with Moses and with David, but covenants are two-way and God is not obligated to keep his side of the bargain if his people (or we) did not keep theirs (ours).

V 11.
Go now and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem that these are the words of the Lord:  I am the potter; I am preparing evil for you and perfecting my designs against you.  Turn back, every one of you, from his evil course; mend your ways and your doings.

Jeremiah had his message: now he had to deliver it.  It wasn't a message that was likely to be popular or pleasant to deliver.  But he went and delivered the warning as God told him to.  We have no evidence from the Bible that Jeremiah procrastinated or complained about the task he had to do, as we so often do. V 12 tells us that the warning was not well received, as we'd expect.

Jeremiah trusted that God would be with him as he had promised (Ch 1: 8) and he understood that it was his job to deliver the message. How that message was received was not his business to worry about.  When God asks us to do something for him, he does not ask us to worry about how it turns out.  That is his job!  Our job is to trust God to give us the gifts and skills to do his work, and just go and do it as we've been asked.

1 Corinthians 10: 13 reminds us that: God keeps faith, and he will not allow you to be tested above your powers, but when the test comes he will at the same time provide a way out, by enabling you to sustain it. If he gives us a task to do for him, surely he will also provide us with the power to do it, just as he gives us the power to stand firm against temptations.