Reshaped, Never Rejected

Susan is learning the art of pottery. Along with a few other friends, I got to hear her talk about what she’s been discovering. There’s a rhythm to it—the way the wheel spins, the way the clay responds to her hands, the way centering is essential before any real shaping can happen. 

Patience is a big part of the process, too. How to work with the clay rather than trying to control it. How to adjust expectations as the form takes shape—letting flaws become features, imperfections become part of the beauty. 

And then, after all the careful molding, there’s the firing—where the clay is set, strengthened, made into something durable and lasting.

The prophet Isaiah gives us this image:

“We are just clay, and You (O God) are the potter. 

We are the product of Your creative action, 

shaped and formed into something of worth.” (Isaiah 64:8)

Lent is a 40-day journey of repentance, return, and renewal—an invitation to be reshaped in God’s hands. It’s about returning to the One who continues to form us. That word “continues” is important for our spiritual journey.

Like clay on the wheel, we are unfinished, in process.

We resist.
We wobble off-center.
We even harden at times.

And yet, in God’s grace, we are never discarded—only reshaped, never rejected.

The shaping continues.

So maybe the call of Lent is less about striving and more about surrender—less about achieving and more about allowing. Relocating ourselves at the center of God’s love. Opening ourselves to divine hands that work with the whole of who we are—flaws, cracks, and all—to form something meaningful, something new.

How is God reshaping you this season? 

Where is the Spirit calling you to soften, to re-center, to lower resistance and yield to the creative, gracious molding of the Potter’s hands?

Much love,

Pastor Gregg