I am the Clay

   It is absolutely gorgeous outside today. Spring is finally here! Over Easter break this past weekend when I was at home, I went running with my sister a couple times. I decided to continue to run while being back here at school too. So, this morning I went running through a couple different parks nearby and on a bike path along a lake. It was so beautiful. The sun was just coming up and the air was chilly, but so refreshing. In the past I have not liked running, but lately I found that I have actually come to enjoy it. It is a good way to start the day- alone with the Lord, enjoying His creation.
   In chapel yesterday we talked a bit about the concept of God as the potter and how we are the clay. I have heard this many times before, but it hit me in a different way yesterday. I always understood how God has formed us and created us as a potter shapes the clay in his hands, but yesterday that idea went even deeper for me. Pottery is fragile. It is easily broken and needs to be handled with extreme care. Our hearts are the same way. God has created each of us carefully. He knows every detail about each of us. He knows our hearts, what our passions are, and what we love. God knows that our hearts are extremely fragile. They can become tangled in webs of emotions. We can be led astray when we follow our hearts. Our hearts are easily broken, easily damaged. 
  God knew this when He created us. He knows that we are fragile beings and there will be times in life when we are broken and hurt. When these trials come, God is faithful. He is forming us and molding us more and more each day. He is shaping us to be more like Him. God has a purpose for every circumstance and challenge we face. Sometimes we need to become broken to fully know the faithfulness of God. It is at these times of desperation that we come to the point of surrender. It is at these times of brokenness that we realize our frailness. It is during times of weakness and exhaustion that we realize God is our only source of strength in this life.

   As we continue to experience life, along with its complications, heartaches, and disappointments, may we always remember that God has overcome all of these things. He has renewed and restored. His blessings are abundant. His mercies are new each day and His grace is made perfect in our weakness. There will be days where we will be broken, but God holds us together. He holds our hearts in His hands. We can be joyful in every circumstance because God is shaping us more and more each day to fulfill His purposes for each of our lives.