Constancy and Change

When the sun's fire pounds on the earth
Then rises back from the road
As I wipe sweat from my brow, 
When the cicadas play their fiddles
In the dewy grass
After dusk has arrived,
I seek You.
When the sand squirms between my toes
And the salt makes my skin itch,
When the waves kiss my feet
And lick my pants,
I seek You, I seek You,
As shards of shells are beached.
When the shadows grow long,
When the wind turns chill
And the maple is stripped of her red robe,
When the marigolds wither
And schoolchildren race down the street,
I seek You, Jesus. When the air becomes fair
And the coats are packed away,
When we till the earth
As azaleas begin to bloom
And the fireplace is swept clean,
I seek You, my Lord.
When I take what You made me,
What You change me into
Every season of my life,
And spill it all over the ground
Like a shattered vessel,
I still seek you, my God.
When I kneel to gather the shards
You stoop beside me, take my hand
And collect what I can't hold.
You lift me in Your arms,
Put me together and carry me a while
And say, "I have always been there."

Day 11

…Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel (Jer. 18:6).

God told Jeremiah to go where he would receive a message: the potter’s house. There, God told Jeremiah that He can do anything He wants to do with His people, even when they are spoiled, misshapen, and warped. If He wants to make you whole again, well, then that’s what He wants to do. This message wasn’t just for Jeremiah. It was for all of God’s people. But God required one thing from them. They had to return to Him.

But most didn’t. They had some very difficult times ahead of them before many learned to return to God. Jeremiah also said that after these trials of exile, ” the people of Israel and the people of Judah shall come together, weeping as they come, and they shall seek the Lord their God.” They were broken people, but they came back together. Jesus told us that if we seek Him, we will find Him (Matthew 7:7), and James reassures repentant hearts that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us (James 4:8).

I think that once we return to God, once we seek Him, once we draw near to Him, we will find that He is not the one Who withdrew from us. We are the ones who withdrew from Him. But He can perform miracles, making any misshapen or even broken vessel beautiful and whole. Not only can He make us whole, but He wants to. That’s the amazing part about it. He wants to.

Where is God asking you to go to receive His message for you? It is reading the Bible again, getting back in church, restoring some old relationships, stepping into a new place, or simply getting away from the business of life for a while? Just return. Just obey. God has His next word waiting for you.

If you enjoyed this material, please leave a like or comment on my blog and you can purchase my book, Learning to Love: A Collection of Poetry and 40 Daily Devotions, on Amazon. Until next time, God bless.