He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. (Isaiah 40:29)
When life is unfolding hard and very painful lessons it can feel as though it’s impossible to understand why God would allow hurtful pain that is mixed with fragile emotions and to expect us to remain faithfully trusting while we wait upon Him to intercede for us. How could He possibly use any of this for good?
While we see more unnecessary heartbreak. He sees where we are and the exact pieces and parts of us that must be yielded into His nail pierced scarred hands of grace that protects us and provides for us His strength working through our circumstances whatever is needed. God, our Master Potter forms us and shapes our broken parts and pieces by adding in His living water filling our empty hearts and molding us into new vessels filled with His Spirit’s power that will bring Him honor. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us (2 Cor. 4:7).
Do you know that wise experienced potters not only know how to form beautiful things from clay, but also know the importance by adding some dust from previously broken pottery to their clay this type of dust is called “grog.” When shattered just right, the grog dust added to the new clay will enable the potter to form the clay into a larger and stronger vessel than before. How? you may ask. Because it can now withstand fires much hotter and when glazed these pieces end up having a much more beautiful finish than they would have before. We read in Isaiah 45:9, “Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing but potsherds among potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands?’ God’s relationship to all created things is compared to that of the potter to the clay–neither can we see or ever know all that God who created us is doing or has in mind for us in this life without our fully trusting in His working in us.
A potsherd by definition; (broken piece or fragment of a broken vessel or pot) can lie on the ground and be nothing more than a constant reminder of our brokenness. It can also be used to continually scrape our wounds and painful sores from this life (Job 2:7-10) and never more when kept in our hands. But when we surrender our broken potsherd pieces into the Master Potter’s hands, in His skillful loving hands, we can trust all the broken places in our life that need to be and will be shattered just right and then reused again to make us stronger and even more beautiful than before (Jeremiah 18:1-6).
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak
Isaiah 40:29
Prayer:
Lord, I’m choosing to trust in You in all the broken places in my life. For You heal the brokenhearted and bind up their wounds (Psalm 147:3). May You show Your lovingkindness to Your servants who welcome Your molding and shaping us into what You have for our lives. In Jesus name, Amen
