That's what happened with me recently. As Mom and I were looking toward the excitement of Christmas gatherings and having family here, I asked her if there was anything she'd like me to make. She mentioned that it had been a long time since we'd made fudge. I remember enjoying her slightly crumbly, not too creamy chocolate fudge with walnuts, as a child, and it really had been a long time. Let's do it! I immediately started scanning the internet for old-fashioned fudge and found one that sounded just like hers.
Within the hour, I was in the kitchen whipping up some yummy fudge. Or so I thought. I followed the directions, but by the time it came to stir in the walnuts, I could barely stir this glob of chocolate goo. There was no way to pour this glob into a pan. I dumped it in and mashed on it hoping it would press into the pan and act like fudge. It didn't. It was a VERY crumbly disaster; however, it did taste like Mom's!
For about a day, we picked out and ate the big crumbs or grabbed a spoon to eat it. I don't like to waste good stuff, so I decided to try to make something else using the failed-fudge. I pulled out a chocolate chip cookie recipe and substituted the crumbly fudge for the chips and nuts. The cookies were delicious and Mom really liked them!
Sometimes we feel like everything we touch is a failure or everything is going wrong. Yet when we stop and look at the broken pieces or crumbs, we often can see something beautiful or different from what we had originally planned. A few years ago I read an article about a company that takes broken glass and re-purposes the pieces into beautiful bowls and vases. It may take an attitude adjustment, change of thought, more work, or lots of perseverance on our part, but I believe we can always find something good or beautiful even in the failure or brokenness.
The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
God is the Master at looking at broken, misshapen lives and making something new and beautiful out of the pieces. He is the potter, we are the clay. He can break and He can restore. But His purposes are always for our good. If we've gone astray, it may be His way of calling us back. Or in the case of Job, He may have allowed the enemy to have his way with limits and for a time. How do we react or respond to being broken or failing or maybe even being caught in sin? Do we wish to cast away the broken pieces and turn away from God or turn towards Him and seek out how to become who He wants us to be? Will we allow Him to mold and shape us into a new vessel useful to the Master?
I will probably never be able to exactly replicate failed-fudge cookies again. That's OK. It was a unique recipe for a unique circumstance. Isn't it wonderful that God sees each of us as unique individuals? He will work with us right where we are and make something beautiful out of our lives no matter how broken or how much of a failure we think we are. No life is worth wasting. God has a purpose and plan specifically designed for each one of us and it is beautiful.
Let's let the Master Potter rework our lives as it seems good to Him to do.
