An Unfinished Work
‘Time in the Word’ By Clayton Adams
In the book of Jeremiah chapter 18 we read of a simple life lesson God taught the prophet Jeremiah. God directed the old prophet to a potter’s house and while watching the potter work on a lump of clay, Jeremiah learned.
We read, “Then I went down to the potter’s house and there he was, making something on the wheel.
But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so, he remade it into another vessel, as it pleases the potter to make” (Jeremiah 18:3-4).
We are living, unfinished works of God. He created us for His purposes. What is more, God tells what His purposes are. “I will give them a heart to know Me for I am the LORD; and they will be My people and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart” (Jeremiah 24:7).
God has a plan to lift the burdens of life from you, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 25:28-30).
Another of God’s desire for you, “‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for good and not for bad to give you a future and a hope. ‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:11-13). Through God’s Holy Word we can zoom in on the lives of those who came before us to see God, the master potter, working, molding, shaping, smashing and kneading the lives of His creation. God keeps molding and shaping us until we take our last breath and our spirit moves into eternity.
Do you struggle with trying to find your purpose in life? I struggle with purpose in my life; what am I to be doing, who should I be serving, where should I put my life energy and efforts? It is a struggle.
I know many people who struggle with their purpose in life. Too, God chooses to change our circumstances in life through sickness, financial woes and even death and these changes are sometimes very confusing.
The tragic events of life are not so much punishments from God as they are His continued efforts to mold and shape our lives to conform to His Will.
On the potter’s wheel was a lump of clay to which the potter applied pressure with his hands. Pressure shaped the clay but the clay did not take the shape or form which was in the potter’s mind. The potter started over.
Call them mulligans, doovers, resets, restarts, fresh beginnings – God gives us opportunities to start anew with Him every day. When we try to fulfill our plans, climb our ladder of success or pursue human power, intellect, wealth, success or beauty, sooner or later we realize we need a new beginning. Thankfully, God is all about new beginnings.
God said, “Can I not…
deal with you as this potter does? Listen, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand…” (Jeremiah 18:6). Above everything, God desires a relationship with you. He created you, wired you for relationship with Him first and the others secondly. God can do whatever He desires with us. God can, does and will allow us to take the road we choose, to suffer the consequences of our plans and decisions and even to knock on deaths door to get us to the point of being pliable in His hands.
In the Bible we learn of “stiff-necked” people.
Stiff-necked people are unwilling to learn from their mistakes or resist the idea that they are wrong.
Stiff-necked people run headlong into disaster while God is warning them to stop, change direction and follow His way.
We read, “So now then, speak to the men of Judah and against the inhabitants of Jerusalem saying, “Thus says the Lord, “Behold, I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh, turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.”’ “But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart’ (Jeremiah 18:11-12).
Admittedly, I can sometimes be stiff-necked. I set my course, make my decisions and go forth. Disregarding warning signs and wise counsel to turn back — why? Simply said, I am human and we humans ignore God, His Word and His warnings. No human is immune from this and there is a penalty to be paid for wanton disregard of God.
It is these precise times in that the mighty hand of God exerts His pressure and His will into our heart, mind and soul. The mighty hand of God in His loving ways and resolute purpose reshapes us, cutting away the dead and useless mindsets, replacing our human wisdom with His Holy wisdom. This process is painful, difficult but it is necessary for us to become more like His Son Jesus.
This is God’s ultimate purpose for you and your life — for you to become perfect in His Son, Jesus Christ.
We are each an unfinished work until we are made perfect in Him.
Clayton Adams has a message of faith he would like to share with the community. He would also like to hear from you. E-mail him at claytonpadamslll@ gmail.com.
