Have you ever taken a piece of paper or a note card to start writing on it and messed up on a word? Sometimes those mistakes can be made right by making that c look like an e. But many times, it is not that simple. Maybe you misspell someone’s name, or use the wrong word in a sentence.
What do you normally do when this happens? I don’t know about you, but I normally crumple up that note or paper and grab a new one to start over. That would be the normal response when it comes to handling something that is ruined.
But can I tell you something this morning? Our natural tendency is not the natural tendency of our God…and I am so grateful! Let me explain by sharing with you a few verses from Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 18:1-6 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
At this point in the book of Jeremiah, the nation of Israel is pretty ruined. They are living for every god except the one true God. They are in pretty bad shape spiritually.
Jeremiah must have had the same thought that we would. A thought that entered into the mind of Jonah many years before: just crumple them up and start over.
But God’s patience with His people is portrayed in the example of a potter. The potter begins by taking clay and molding it to the shape of his choosing. Along the way, that clay can become out of form, or “ruined” from what the potter intended the final result to be.
He does not just throw the clay away and grab new clay…he removes the mistakes and continues to mold to the final result.
Your life is clay in the hand of the Savior. He has a final result that He wants to accomplish in your life. But there are times that we go our own way. We want what we want and that causes us to mess up our lives. So what should we do when this happens?
Remember these truths from this passage:
God has not thrown you away!
God will forgive the mistakes!
God still wants to use you!
You may be reading this and thinking to yourself that you are beyond use. This may seem true to the finite minds of human beings, because we give up super easily. But God is not like us…He is longsuffering and patience, a God of second chances.
The ruined can be made right through Christ!
Run to God today with your imperfect self, and find a God that will take your imperfections and continue to mold you into an image of His dear son.