Editor’s Note: The following post was published on The Walk To Remember in 2018. It has been reformatted to this website.

It’s a fair assessment to dub me “quitter”. I was once the songwriter in a heavy metal band that recorded two demo albums, one of which made its presence known in California to some fanfare. However, after seeing too many episodes of “Behind the Music”, I realized that the rock star life wasn’t too appetizing. I could not stomach such a life and turned my collar to that path. My desire turned to songwriting. The muse could no longer be found and the notes went silent. Finally, after realizing that the surviving notes, struggling to breathe, produced a sound unholy, I retired from playing guitar all together. I would not even allow my children to listen to what my wretched hands could produce. 

What about my God-given gift and love of art? Sadly, through the years I learned that producing beauty for the eyes and time are in constant dispute. As my interest shifted from the canvas and brush to the wood and the burning tool, I realized that there isn’t a desire in the world of art for the archaic practice of pyrography. The nauseating stench of smoke and stain permeating through my abode no longer made the dying art appealing to me. The interest did not grasp anyone else either.

What about my love of writing? Oh, how I desired to bless others by glorifying our Lord through a previous blog ministry! However, as time marched on, those who would “tune in” dwindled to my own set of eyes. I shut down Refined4him, and decided to share a Walk to Remember. I have begun to see those eyes start to dwindle yet again. Only three months into its life I have struggled with the notion of termination. It’ll only be a matter of time before it will be again for my eyes only.

Maybe I am a quitter. Or maybe I just know when the effort is no longer worth the trouble. Maybe I know when to throw in the towel.

We should be thankful that our God, whom we serve, does not have this trait in common with me. Paul, in writing to the church in Philippi, said “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). It is a comfort to me, as it should be for you as well, that despite all of our imperfections and inclinations to fall to the schemes of the devil, that God continues to pick us up out of the muck. He does not give up on us. The perfecting work is ongoing. It is never done. It is His purpose.

However, because we are flesh and are prone to wander, we truly are never “complete” or “perfect” in becoming holy and more like Christ. If we truly are His children, and are truly surrendered to His will in our lives, then we will become more vigilant to the traps that are laid before us. Our spiritual eyes will foresee the dangers and avoid them. We will seek the way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). Old traps stay old. New traps eventually follow suit.

We are clay in the Potter’s hand (Jeremiah 18:3-6; Isaiah 64:8; Romans 9:21). He seeks to mold us into a beautiful vessel. Like the artist, He adds the elements to soften us again, so that we may be reworked when our original aim leans toward flaw and imperfection. Anytime His work begins to falter, He chooses to continue to form us into the design that He has planned. His goal is to produce something that will bring glory to the Master’s hand. Not shame. 

You may say that you don’t feel like you are being molded in His way. That you have been abandoned on the Potter’s wheel, left to your own imperfections and shame. I ask: Have you surrendered yourself to His hands? His vision? His will? Or are you a stubborn hardened lump, refusing conformity?

Be thankful that we are the clay and never find completeness before the time. Because a completed piece can no longer be molded. The only thing left for it once it becomes marred is to be destroyed. Believe me friends, we are a marred people. Praise and honor to the One whom all blessings flow. Who knows the perfect design before we do. Who is willing to never cease working with us, despite our ability to become hardened and oppose His craftsmanship. Who is patiently working and yet never rushing, avoiding announcing prematurely that His piece is “complete”. His patience is for our own good dear believer. 

It is only by the return of Christ that we become pristine. It is then that we shed our wretched and mortal flesh. It is then that we shed our sin nature. It is then that we lay to rest the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). It is then that the present world and its system of affliction becomes past. It is then that we are complete. 

Until then… be the clay.