Last week, the devotion that God sometimes wounds us to heal us may be disconcerting to some. So how can we minimize such wounding? Today’s passage reveals the way:

IN WORD – Repentance is a much-maligned word. It sounds so hard and painful, even condemning. Those connotations don’t go over well in a laid-back, life’s-a-beach culture of tolerance like ours. Repentance implies that something is wrong with us and we’re going to have to deny ourselves something we treasure in order to change. That’s a biblical truth we don’t enjoy memorizing.
Maybe it would help us to think about repentance in terms of clay. Clay that has lost its moisture, that is hardening and no longer pliable, is unrepentant clay. If that thickening process isn’t too far along, the Potter can add some water and soften it up. But if the clay is too dry and stiff, there’s nothing to be done. It has to be tossed out. Based on that illustration, repentance sounds like a good plan, doesn’t it?
It is a matter of regaining pliability in order to be useful to the Master Artist. David demonstrated it when Nathan confronted him about his sin with Bathsheba, and Nineveh demonstrated it when its citizens repented after Jonah’s prophecy of destruction. In both cases, the Potter was merciful and the clay became useful again. Repentance was a very worthwhile event.
IN DEED – Our Potter’s grand design depends on the malleability of His clay. If we are too stiff and unyielding, God has no compassionate alternative to informing us of our impending uselessness—the disaster the prophets proclaimed. If we accept the warning, however, we become soft and easy to reshape, and the Potter enjoys us again. He always has a good plan for clay that bends. Are there any areas in which your heart needs to bend? Yes, it sounds painful, but the alternative is far worse. Softening the substance of your life makes the Potter delightfully willing to make something beautiful. His blessings come to those who bend. “One of the first things for which we have to pray is a true insight into our condition.” – Olive Wyon (in “Heaven on Earth” by Chris Tiegreen)

Spiritual wounding is not necessary if we remain pliant to the Lord’s handiwork. Take time this week and read psalms 19, 20, 25, 27, 28, and 31 this week, using each psalm to guide you in evaluating your pliability before the Lord. May the Holy Spirit keep you humbly obedient to walk in His plans and will for your life. Have a blessed week! – from Singapore, Pastor Sam