He Never Stops Working

The Christian journey, though promised to be abundant, often involves navigating periods of deep emotional burden, referred to as “Trouble Valley” or the “Valley of Achor”. This message, drawing from the wisdom of King David and the prophetic imagery of Jeremiah, emphasizes that God’s plan is one of supernatural soul restoration and continuous renewal. The core promise is that God, the Master Potter, never stops working, providing a “do-over plan” for those whose lives have become “marred,” “ruined,” or “muddy”.

This is a deep dive into recognizing and overcoming accumulated grief—the sticky emotional residue of years of hurts—and activating the freedom purchased through the cross.

1. The Anatomy of a Battered Soul: Trouble Valley and Accumulated Grief

The spiritual enemy often seeks to weigh down the inner man (the soul) with accumulated burdens, causing stagnation and distress.

A. The Valley of Achor: Trouble and Mud

The term “Valley of Achor” (Hosea 2:15, Isaiah 65:10) refers to a place of defeat and trouble in biblical history.

• Meaning: Achor is the Hebrew word for trouble, troubled, or troublesome. It also refers to mud or muddy.
• Symbolism: It pictures taking a stick to a clear stream and stirring up the bottom, causing the water to cloud up and dim vision. The Valley of Achor is where hearts are broken, and life’s streams become muddy and clouded up.
• Promise: Even in this place of trouble, the valley is promised to become a “door of hope”.

B. The Virus of Accumulated Grief

One of the primary purposes of Christ’s cross and the Holy Spirit’s mission is the removal of accumulated grief from the heirs.

• Definition: Grief can be understood not just as a singular emotion, but as something that accumulates over days, months, and years.
• The “Tape” Analogy: Accumulated grief is likened to pieces of tape that stick to the heart and soul, making it unable to “pump life as it should anymore”. This sticky tape represents repeated life strikes: broken trust, loss, rejection, hurtful words, broken dreams, and poor decisions.
• The Consequence: When the heart is “all taped up,” it becomes constricted, and the good “issues of life” (personality, gifts, purpose) stop flowing properly.

C. The Divine Exchange for Restoration

The Lord is anointed to preach good tidings, heal the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to captives, and comfort all who mourn.

• The Great Exchange: God consoles those who mourn in Zion by providing a divine exchange: beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
• Restoring the Soul: Psalm 23 states, “The Lord my shepherd restores my soul“. This restoration is necessary so that the individual can “reign as king”. It includes healing wounds and abuse from childhood, and emotional healing.
• The Power of Blood: The freedom purchased by Christ’s sacrifice ensures that no curse on all Golgotha can withstand the “crimson flow”.

2. The Potter’s Hands: God’s “Do-Over” Plan

Jeremiah 18 uses the powerful metaphor of the potter and the clay to assure believers that God’s work of transformation is ongoing and guarantees restoration.

A. The Marred Vessel and Ruin

Life can make the individual feel like a “mudball”—nondescript, spinning, without shape, and not beautiful.

• The Marred State: The vessel (the life) can become marred (Hebrew: shakeathth or shaketh) in the hands of the potter. Shaketh means ruin or ruined, and can also be used for decay, spoiled, wounded, violated, or injured.
• Violation: Every person has been violated by sin, and at times by wounds, soul strikes, hurts, losses, and poor decisions.
• The Promise: Even if the vessel is marred, the potter made it again into another vessel. God says, “I can make it good again. I can make you new. I have a do-over plan for you”.

B. The Potter Never Stops Working

The core prophetic promise from this imagery is that the Master Potter never stops working.

• The Process: God starts kicking and spinning the wheel, pulling and squeezing the mud ball, shaping it with His hands. He gives a makeover and makes something beautiful out of what was marred, ruined, or violated.
• No Condemnation: God does not look at the leaking crack or the broken spot; He says, “I’ll just make it new… one that seems good to me”.
• Universal Reach: This applies regardless of where a person is located—Wyoming, Idaho, California, or Argentina—He is working.

C. Squeezing a Blessing Out of Trouble

God describes the life of His people as a cluster of grapes. Even if there are bad, blighted, or sour grapes, the cluster should not be destroyed.

• The Action: The believer’s attitude is to take out the good and throw the bad away. The instruction is to squeeze out a blessing and ring good out of the cluster.
• Faith and New Wine: Sometimes, by faith, one must take trouble by the neck and ring out new wine.
• God’s Promise: God promises to make up the shortages, giving double for your trouble and helping to turn everything around.