That’s my new clock you see in the picture. I purchased it at the local art gallery. Isn’t it beautiful? And you know what? It started life as a vinyl record. 

Which is a wonderful reminder of God’s love for us. After he has restored us, He can take the brokenness, the outdatedness, the feelings of uselessness, and repurpose it for his good. We see this in the Old Testament in the story about the potter in Jeremiah 18:3-4:

“So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.   But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.”

We see it again in the New Testament in 2 Corinthians 5:17:

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"

God is relentless. 

First in his pursuit of us:

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost?" Matthew 18:12

Then in his justification of us:

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Then in his sanctification of us. 

“The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son [and daughter].” Hebrews 12:6

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

NEVER — EVER— believe God is through with you. Never feel that your usefulness is over. Instead, be excited. Look forward to what God has in store for you next. 

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do .” Ephesians 2:10