Repair. Rebuild. These words are familiar to me. They’re comforting words – they speak of restoration. A returning to what was, making whole and strong again.

But lately another concept has filled my mind.

Reformation.

Reform… to literally be formed again.

I’ve been broken before. It hurts. My plans get a few cracks, my heart ends up a little bruised, but Jesus repairs. He mends the broken places and life goes on. There might be a few battle scars, but overall, I am still me. Life is still familiar. And I realize, the pain was worth it. After I’m repaired, I see that it is Good.

Sometimes, an event has left me shattered. The pain goes deep. My heart isn’t only bruised, it’s in pieces. My plans break apart. They aren’t only cracked, they’re no longer in one piece.

But Jesus, the Carpenter from Nazareth, loves to rebuild. He takes all the pieces and fits them back together. It might not look quite like the original, but it is beautiful. After He rebuilds my life, I see that everything worked out for Good.

But what if I’m totally crushed? What if I’m way beyond cracked and bruised? More than shattered – because the pieces of me, my plans, and my life aren’t even recognizable? No hint of the original remains.

What then?

You can’t glue something back together if you don’t even have pieces to work with. If they’re crushed into fine powder, what then?

Thankfully, God isn’t limited to repairing or rebuilding things. He isn’t only a Carpenter, He is a Potter.

He wants to re-form me.

Dust and water are necessary to make clay…

Clay can be molded into beautiful, brand new vessels – completely different than the original.

There may be slight similarities, sure. Still made of clay. Still a vessel to be filled with any given substance. But, new.

Crushed lives, dreams, and identities may appear hopeless. But they are filled with vitality when saturated with the living water of God’s love!

God isn’t finished with me, with my life. His purpose for me is ever unfolding, and the same is true for you who reads this.

I don’t like being crushed. I’m afraid of the waves of pain that break over my head at times and almost push me under.

But… I do kind of like the idea of being reformed.

What’s God going to make my life into? How will He shape me through this?

If this crushing is necessary to produce the dust God needs to work with, I’ll relax into the ride. Let the waves toss me… let the Master Potter breathe life into me and shape me in His skillful hands…

And someday I’ll look back and realize, He has made me gloriously NEW!

I will have the same key features of course. Human. A vessel to be filled with Jesus. But oh, I hope I’m able to carry more of His love for others. I hope I will be formed in a way that reveals more of Him and less of me.

Am I enjoying this place in life? Not. At. All.

But there shines a brilliant light of hope in the darkness when I think about being drastically reformed.

Not only a minor repair job. Not being rebuilt into a similar structure. Complete reformation promises an exciting surprise of, “what will it be?!”

God has repaired me, and hurt has become good.

God has rebuilt me, and pain has been replaced with joy.

But now, God is reforming me, and dust will become alive! Just as He made it to be so in Genesis… and promises in Revelation… from cover to cover in the Bible, God delights in creating newness from humble beginnings.

I have faith that I’m not permanently going to be crushed.

I am in the hands of God, the Giver of new life… and I am in the process of being Re-Formed.

The intensity of the current pain gives me hope… that the new creation of God’s design for my life will be extraordinarily beautiful.

Behold, I am making all things NEW!

– God, Revelation 21:5 ESV –