He’s still working on me
To make me what I ought to be
It took him just a week to make the moon and stars
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars
How loving and patient He must be
‘Cause He’s still workin’ on me
There really ought to be a sign upon my heart
Don’t judge him yet, there’s an unfinished part
But I’ll be better just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master’s loving hands
He’s still working on me…
In the mirror of His word
Reflections that I see
Makes me wonder why He never gave up on me
But He loves me as I am and helps me when I pray
Remember He’s the potter, I’m the clay
He’s still working on me….
-Joel Hemphill
“Well, He’s probably tired of all the work on me!” I told my sister recently. Since He made all of creation in a few days, but I’m an ongoing, longterm project, still needing renovation, I felt condemned and frustrated. I can’t seem to “get it right.” It didn’t take me long to remember that my pondering and frustration were out of line!
Genesis 1:26-27 makes it clear that we are indeed God’s most prized creation; we are those who were created to be like Him, to reflect the image of the Trinity!
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
His plan and desire are clear in the first chapter of the Bible. God wanted a creature like Him, who could communicate with and spend time with Him. He wanted someone to bless, someone with free choice who will still choose Him and His ways. He also had a plan, from the beginning, for our wrong choices. The entire Bible points to these truths.
As for the “working on me,” Philippians 1:6 tells us, “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.” It’s a good work, an ongoing work, and He is the one doing it! Instead of thinking of it as if, “I just can’t get it right,” I need to remember that He lovingly wants me to have what is best. I don’t toss in the trash and give up on something I value, even if it is damaged. I will find a way to fix it, or repurpose it.
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
Jeremiah 18:1-4
What a privilege it is to be His clay, to be worth refashioning by a loving and patient Potter!
When frustration comes, we must remember that the enemy, Satan, is our accuser. When guilt weighs on us and accusations ring in our ears, Isaiah 54:17 says that “every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.” It is my job to stand against the enemy’s lies through Jesus’ blood. My “loving and patient” father has made a way where there seemed to be no way and never gives up on me!
