My present circumstances, your present circumstances, good, bad, indifferent are never wasted with God.
God can mold us to what He intended for us to be. I especially like the following: "To do that, He may have to crush the few pieces we have left into fine clay, water us with His Word, reshape our lumpy mass of leftovers, and put us back on His potter's wheel."
I want to be set free! I do not want to depend so highly on people. People will disappoint you, no doubt! God will not! I want the chains of bondage of abuse, shame, guilt, condemnation, fear, etc. to fall away.
Anyway, I pray this devotional will touch you in a special way. It has me:
Gather up now the fragments (the broken pieces that are left over), so that nothing may be lost and wasted.
— John 6:12
No experience in your life is ever wasted or in vain if you give all your cares to the Lord. Even if your fragmented life looks like an abandoned battlefield, Jesus can reshape all the pieces of your past into something beautiful.
After Jesus had fed five thousand people with just a few loaves of bread and two small fish, He told His disciples, "Gather up now the fragments (the broken pieces that are left over), so that nothing may be lost and wasted." (John 6:12) The disciples gathered up twelve baskets of food from the leftovers, still much more than the small offering of loaves and fishes that was made to Jesus in the first place.
God set me free from fear, insecurity, emotional addictions, and the bondage of a deep-rooted sense of rejection. Then He reshaped my fragmented life and gave me the glorious privilege of teaching His people how they can be whole; how they can have fruitful, happy lives and ministries; and how they can enjoy healthy, loving relationships.
We need inner strength to keep from being overwhelmed by outward circumstances. We must allow God to gather up our fragmented dreams and remold us into the image of Christ. To do that, He may have to crush the few pieces we have left into fine clay, water us with His Word, reshape our lumpy mass of leftovers, and put us back on His potter's wheel. But He is more than capable of designing something miraculous from whatever we have left to give Him.
From the book New Day, New You: 365 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life by Joyce Meyer. Copyright © 2007 by Joyce Meyer. Published by FaithWords. All rights reserved.
Great post, totally hitting the spot. However, one of the hardest things in life, is to give it all the the Lord. Easy to say, but I struggle, and hold on like a limpet, even to the things that aren't working for me. I pray for the chains to break, to be set free, and then I hold on for dear life, in case they do... Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAmen...in the Potter's sweet hands, there is healing....
ReplyDeleteFor too long, I depended on other people to make me happy, tried to make them my God, in a way. But you are right. People will always disappoint us. They are only human. There is only one who will not. Thanks for this great reminder.
ReplyDeleteSome times I feel my life is such a mess that even God can not put it back together. Thanks for reminding me I'm in the potters hands.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it always works, having the pieces crushed like that?
ReplyDeleteI do believe we need to build our inner strength so we can cope with big problems better.
Secretia
Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeletecrushed clay, or sifted sand, GOD's will
for me is always changing, and never what
I imagine it is, but always hi will works
through people....
bye
Live life without expectations then people will not let you down, you are doing and thinking so well my friend.....:-) Hugs
ReplyDelete"My present circumstances, your present circumstances, good, bad, indifferent are never wasted with God."
ReplyDeleteSo good. So very, very good.
Sturdy long lasting bricks are made up of recast crushed bricks along with new material. Great analogy!
ReplyDelete