Weekly Devotion

May 04 2020

The Great Designer by Rev. Carrie Mayo
Genesis 1:27; 31 and Isaiah 64:8

When I lived in China, one of the places that I often frequented on prayer walks was the Great Mosque. It was one of the oldest standing building complexes in Xi’an. It housed an operating mosque but had also become a tourist attraction because of its ancient beauty. Its architecture and buildings dated from the Tang Dynasty. On one visit there, I noticed that the beautiful yet faded archways were being restored one at a time. The workers had placed a painting of what the archway had looked like back when it was first built and painted. The original painting showed striking deep colors and smooth edges. The archway the day I was there showed much weathering. The colors had faded. The edges had begun to crumble. However, what struck me the most was that the places they had already restored, though beautiful, were not quite right.

They were doing thebest they could but it just didn’t hold its former magnificence. I realized the reason for that is only the one who originally created the work could truly restore it to its
intended magnificence. Yet those artists were long dead. In a lot of ways, we are like those archways. We all fade as life takes its toll: mistakes, pain, conflict, disappointment, sin. They all affect us. With each touch of life a bit of glory departs us. We are sometimes only faint reflections of what God originally
intended.
In reading verses like Genesis 1:27 and 31, I realize that we are not what He originally
created us to be. Ultimately, sin has destroyed that in us. On our own we can never
“restore” ourselves back to what God designed and lovingly created. However, there is
one difference between us and the ancient architecture of China - our Artist is still
alive. He remembers His master design for each of us. He is able, willing, and eager to
restore our faded and broken parts.
Isaiah 64:8 says, "Yet Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are our potter;
we all are the work of Your hands."
All He is waiting for is the invitation from us to intervene. The invitation is our
confession, submission, and obedience. Hope exists for us though we are weathered
and worn. Why? Because our Artist still lives.
Prayer: Almighty God, restore us. Restore us to what You intended us to be. Remove the
weathered and worn places that life has left on us. We ask You to change us. Bring us
back in Your mighty resurrection power. Amen.