If you were to ask Sarah, she would be excited to show you her container of sea glass. Recently, on our mission trips to Guyana, we have gone to the sea wall in the Georgetown area and walked along the beach, whereupon she found a lot of sea glass. As a side note, just talk to those who have gone on the mission trip and ask them about the “beach” in Guyana. Because this glass is found on many beaches around the world, it is also known as beach glass or washed glass. Most of the sea glass that is found are bits of colored glass that are shattered glass bottles. Originally, the glass you find on the beach had a purpose, but then, it was casually (indifferently, carelessly) thrown away and became broken.
If the discarded glass ends up in an ocean, its journey is just beginning. As it is constantly tossed about by currents and tides, its jagged edges are ground down by the sand and waves, and eventually they are smoothed away and rounded off. The result is something beautiful. The jewel-like sea glass has found new life and is treasured by collectors and artists.
Like broken glass that is in the ocean and then eventually turns into a beautiful piece of broken sea glass, is it possible for a broken life to be renewed when it is touched by God’s love and grace? In the Old Testament, it is stated that when the prophet Jeremiah watched a potter working, he noticed that if an object was ruined (marred), the potter simply reshaped it (Jeremiah 18:1–6). God explained that in His hands the people of ancient Israel were like clay that He would shape as He saw best. God says in vs. 6, “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? says the Lord. Look as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel…”
Just like Israel, we are never too badly broken for God to reshape. He loves us in spite of our imperfections and past mistakes, and with purpose, as an omniscient God, He desires to make us beautiful (Ephesians 2:10). There is an old song written in 1902 that we have sung many times; “Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! Thou art the Potter, I am the clay; Mold me and make me after Thy will, While I am waiting, Yielded and still!” God has a purpose for your life. Will you let Him mold you into a beautiful vessel and become a masterpiece for His glory “in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we should walk in them?”
