Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
One of my favorite characters in the Bible is David. David's life is an epic story of God's power and faithfulness, and the life of an everyday person who is called into something far beyond his own personal power and strength. At the end of David's life, he sings this song that he wrote years earlier, when God had delivered him from the hands of King Saul.
Our Verse of the Day comes from 2 Samuel chapter 22, verse 33. David says, "God is my strong fortress, and He makes my way perfect."
The Japanese Art of Kintsugi
Before we look into the life of David, I want to share with you one of my favorite art forms. It's a Japanese art form called kintsugi, and it's this really neat process where they take pottery that's been broken, and rather than trying to hide all of the cracks in it, they take tree sap and they mix it with gold in order to mend it.
The reason why I love it is it doesn't seek to hide the blemishes of the pottery. It actually highlights them. These newly formed vessels are so beautiful, and each one is so unique. It's just this masterful craftsmanship to take all of these little fragments and put them back together to be the same vessel, and yet a completely new vessel at the same time.
God Does This in Our Lives
The reason why I love this art form is, as I've gotten older, I've begun to see how God does this in our very own lives. Yes, we are made completely whole and new, but on this side of eternity, we still see moments of those cracks in our souls. We see those blemishes of times that we've failed, but we also know that God has healed them and He uses them for something greater.
David's Journey
I was thinking about that as I was contemplating the life of David. For a lot of us, we think of King David as this great man—and he was. But let's think about where he started.
He was a meager shepherd. God called him and He anoints him into this place of power, and he slays Goliath. Then all of a sudden, he's fleeing for his life. He's fighting for the throne. Then he finally takes his seat of power. He's great King David again—until he's an adulterer. Then he mourns and he repents, and then he ascends back to his throne, and then he runs for his life again.
We see that his life is a series of ups and downs. David surely isn't perfect.
God Makes His Way Perfect
Yet, as he sits at the end of his life, he says that God has made his way perfect. But his life is far from perfect by my standards, and probably by your standards as well.
I think David has come to understand that God takes his mess and He does something powerful with it in order to accomplish His perfect plan.
The First Half of the Verse
If you want to experience this same sense of confidence—that yes, maybe I take steps in the wrong direction at times, but God makes my way perfect—I want you to look at the first half of this verse because there's power in there.
David says: "God is my strong fortress."
This is what gives him the confidence to say that He makes his way perfect.
Running Back to God
Over the years, David knows that when he's wandered from God's will, it's because he sought strength and refuge in himself. It was when he was comfortable and in power, when he thought he could do it on his own.
He had also learned through those moments that as soon as he ran back to God for refuge, God would welcome him with open arms and that He would restore his soul. He would give him rest. He would redeem him and put him back on firm footing.
God's Redemptive Work
I've come to really admire this about the way that our God works: He doesn't hold us on a leash, forcing us to be near Him. He gives us free will to go astray, but He also welcomes us back. He takes all of those broken, shattered pieces and He mends them back together into this new, beautiful creation.
My story and your story of God—of how God has worked to redeem—is so unique, just like that pottery. It doesn't hide the blemishes. It highlights them to show just how powerful the craftsman is at working with the pottery. In the same way, our God so powerful at working in our lives.
Embrace Your Testimony
Whatever parts of your life feel ugly and broken—know that God offers healing and He makes us into something beautiful.
Embrace your story. Embrace your testimony because God is going to uniquely use it for something so incredibly powerful.
