"Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel." 

Jeremiah 18:2-6

 

Dear Friends,

 

Our son took an interesting field trip with his school around Lisbon this past week.  They met with different artists in the area and walked the city admiring the variety of artistic expressions.  One of these artist's works had also caught my, and many others, attention - Artur Bordalo.  Mr. Bordalo has made roughly 200 large animal sculptures using over 60 tons of recycled material and his works can be found tucked into many areas around Lisbon.

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When standing up close to these grand pieces of art you sometimes get lost in the rubbish hanging above your head and just find yourself wondering, "what happened to that wall?"  But once you take several steps back only then does the tangled mess become something beautiful.

 

The same is true in our lives.  God does not let anything go to waste!  Sometimes the sins of our past feel like a big pile of unusable rubbish that might make us feel unlovely, or for some, unlovable.  But I want you to remember that in the hands of our Creator, God promises to make all things beautiful in its time.  While this verse in Jeremiah was written to the children of Israel by the prophet Jeremiah concerning Israel's sin and restoration, fellow believers can hold on to this same truth because we serve the same God.  

 

As sinners in a fallen world on this side of heaven, we are all marred.  But just like Mr. Bordalo has learned to make beauty from rubbish, we can know that God can, and will, make us into a more beautiful vessel for his purpose.  Take hope in remembering this week that you are clay in the Great Artist's hands.  Psalm 46:8, "Come and see what the Lord has done, the amazing things he has done on the earth." 

 

Love and Blessings,

Kevin