Isaiah 64:8: “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” (NIV)
Growing pains do not bring joy. It hurts and it is uncomfortable. However, amidst the pain, something good is happening on the inside—growth. While we are going through a phase of growth, we do not immediately see the results, but we can feel that something is happening. We might not always embrace the experience, but the results are always an enhancement of some element of our lives.
While God is working on us, our lives might seem messy and very few things might make sense, but the beauty in all of it is that we are a work in progress in God’s hands. Our mess is beautiful in His eyes because He has a clear purpose in mind while He is forming us. Even though it might seem wild, out of place and messy, to God it is a clear pattern of growth—magnificent and perfect.
Ephesians 2:10 proclaims us as God’s handiwork; we were created in Christ for good works. Everything that God planned for us in life has already been prepared by Him. Our worth is not dependent on what we can do, but what God is doing through us because of the perfect work that Jesus Christ already did for us on the cross. It takes off all the pressure from us to try and make sense of everything and be perfect. We can just rest in God’s work and He will form us into who He destined us to be.
It does not matter how dark our circumstances might seem; the truth remains that whatever good work God started in us, He will complete (Philippians 1:6). Like clay in a potter’s hand that is not put down until the planned shape is perfectly formed, God will never leave us until His purpose is fulfilled. We do not need to understand God to have Him complete us; we only need to submit to His hand in our lives and let Him form us into His image.
1 Corinthians 13:12, says “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (NIV). We reach our full potential when we find our place and purpose in Jesus Christ. Until we find it, there will always be something missing and we will be searching for the missing part. Our human understanding is limited and we are only able to see part of the picture we are meant to see. We start to see the full picture when we submit ourselves to Christ and walk with Him. Only He can open our eyes to see this perfect picture.
As we allow God to form us and to complete His work, He fills our natural speech, thoughts and reasoning with His extraordinary ability to transform us. From the one day where we looked at things with a limited understanding to the next, we are transformed to an understanding beyond our imagination. Our potential is waiting with great expectation for a revelation from Christ that will open our eyes to see the way He does.