Can the Lord not remake us, refashion us, renew us over and over again?
Greetings from a wet, muddy, rainy, muddy, misty, cloudy, (did I say muddy?) Eswatini! Over the last few days we have been criss-crossing this country – home visits at Ntsintsa and Lesibovu, then a team transititon day to the Lubomobo North region, and then home visits in Vuvulane and Myangombili. Finally, we finished the day with our first night of revival in Myangombili and saw souls won to Christ and the Spirit move in a mighty way! Praise God!
As Pastor Danny and Pastor Rodney finished their messages and the rain poured and poured and poured out, so did the Spirit of God on His people. During the altar call, I was moved to see these faithful Swazi souls surrounding one another, praying for one another, praising for one another. You could feel the spirit of unity within in the tent, the Lord breathing life over hungry souls.
And the rain continued to pour.
I’ve been Eswatini many times and never seen mud like this – it’s wet and dark and clay-life and takes a really good shower scrub to get off. Our vans are not white anymore. We’re wiping down the headlights with baby wipes to see out of them. It’s MUDDY.
But the magical thing about mud is this – it makes new. It is from this dirt, this clay, that the Lord remakes us. It’s clean dirt.
“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, ‘Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?’ declares the Lord. ‘Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.’ (Jeremiah 18:1-7)
Mhm.
We are like this clay, this soil. The Lord is remaking us, refashioning us, renewing us. Can He not do it? You are the Potter, and we are the clay.
And it is only in this refashioning, into jars, into pots and cups and mugs and vessels that we become able to pour out on another the Spirit of God. We REQUIRE refashioning.
So as the rain poured, lashed really, on a green and white striped tent at Myangomibili last night, different folks getting us to empty the corners, I was being refashioned. And watching those along me be reshaped more into the image of Christ.
And then the spirit poured out of this weary jars of clay.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4: 7-8)
Lord Jesus, thank you for remaking us to look more like You. In that refashioning, help us to pour out your Spirit on one another, with our Swazi friends and in our ministry. Thank you for treating us like treasure. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We love You, we praise You for who you are. Amen.