In Psalm 51:10 I read, “God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life." (The Message)
One day, God had a message for a prophet named Jeremiah. He told him to go to a potter’s house and watch the potter make clay pots.
As Jeremiah watched the potter molding and fixing the clay, he noticed something: “Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot” (Jeremiah 18:4 The Message).
After Jeremiah saw this object lesson, God gave him a message for Israel: “Watch this potter. In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you” (Jeremiah 18:6 The Message).
I have already made a mess of my life. My “pot” is scarred from poor decisions that I made and things that were done to me. As a result, my life has not turned out as I intended.
But I am the clay; not the potter. God is the potter, and he doesn’t discard clay that’s been misshapen by circumstances. He doesn’t waste the pain that I’ve been through.
God doesn’t throw out the personality and the essence of who he created me to be. Instead, he takes every part of me; the good, the bad, and the ugly. He puts it all in his gentle but strong hands. And then he starts over with shaping my life, applying pressure at just the right places to mold me and remake me into a beautiful, priceless piece of art.
That’s what happens when I surrender myself completely to God’s loving hands.
God specializes in fresh starts. I can have a new beginning today, simply by starting with King David’s prayer in Psalm 51:10: “God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life” (The Message).
It’s never too late to start over. I can bring whatever chaos is in my life to God, the Great Potter. Then trust him to do new work in my life.
In summary, I can always obtain a fresh start and be formed into something new. God had a message for a prophet named Jeremiah. He told him to go to a potter’s house and watch the potter make clay pots. As Jeremiah watched, he noticed: “Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot”. After Jeremiah saw this, God gave him a message for Israel: “In the same way that this potter works his clay, I work on you”. I have already made a mess of my life. I’m scared from poor decisions that I made and things that were done to me. My life has not turned out as I intended. But I am the clay; not the potter. God is the potter, and he doesn’t discard clay that’s been misshapen by circumstances. He doesn’t waste the pain that I’ve been through. God doesn’t throw out the personality and the essence of who he created me to be. He takes every part of me; the good, the bad, and the ugly. He puts it all in his gentle but strong hands. And he starts over with shaping my life, applying pressure at just the right places to mold me and remake me. That’s what happens when I surrender myself completely to God’s loving hands. God specializes in fresh starts. I can have a new beginning today, simply by starting with King David’s prayer in Psalm 51:10: God, make a fresh start in me, shape and form something new from the chaos of my life. It’s never too late to start over. I can bring whatever chaos is in my life to God, the Great Potter. Then trust him to do new work in my life.
Because I was born a sinner, my natural inclination is to please myself rather than God. David followed that inclination when he took another man's wife. I also follow it when I sin in any way. Like David, I must ask God to cleanse me from within, clearing my heart and spirit for new thoughts and desires. Right conduct can come only from a clean heart and spirit. God, I ask you to create a clean heart and spirit within me.
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