This is the kind of story where the title gives it all away, but I hope you’ll still be interested in hearing about The Glass Factory in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, 
where they make everything out of recycled glass. 
The outside of the building is totally unimpressive…
the sort of place you’d pass by without a second thought 
(unless you wanted to recycle some old glass bottles), 
but inside, it’s like a little glass paradise! 
The walls and ceilings are aswirl with glass, 
and even the floor is studded with mosaics of vibrant inlaid glass. 
How do they do it? 
A well trained master craftsman starts with an old bottle
that’s been melted down into a red hot blob. 
Then the artist adds minerals to give his masterpiece glorious colors. 
(Notice the spot of red on his glasses? His eye is focused on his work!)
“Their heart cried unto the Lord…let tears run down like a river day and night: give thyself no rest; let not the apple of thine eye cease” (Lamentations 2:18).
With the help of an assistant, more melted, recycled glass is added. 
Next, the master shapes the glass with a huge pair of sharp scissors. 
He slowly twirls the fiery ball in a heated container
while blowing through the pipe.
He shakes and swings the heated glass until it’s stretched to just the right length.
He blows very hard until the glass looks like an elongated balloon. 
He blows until it’s the size he wants, then he squeezes it with long metal tongs to perfect its shape, shakes it more, then shapes it more. He repeats this process until he’s satisfied that the bottle is just the right size and beautifully balanced.
With surgical skill, he flattens the bottom and makes an indention
so it’s stable and will sit flat without tipping over. 
With his assistant’s aid,
he detaches the rod from the top and holds the bottle from the bottom. 
So many steps! The glass has to be reheated again in the oven!
One of the most touching things to me was to watch the master wrap his arm with gauze to protect himself from the heat while working on the vase. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities” (Hebrews 4:15).
While continuously turning the metal rod to which the glass is attached, he carefully widens the mouth until it’s perfectly round and wide enough to be easily filled. “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it” (Psalm 81:10)
He performs yet another operation to make the lip of the pitcher for pouring out.
“O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.”
(Psalm 51:15)
Finally, a graceful handle is attached to make it easier to use.
I think everybody who watched the demonstration would love to have been able to buy that exquisite pitcher and take it home with them, but it was still too hot to handle. It literally has to sit for 24-hours cooling down before it can be used. 
So, of course (as you can probably tell) my mind went wild thinking about all the ways in which The Glass Factory reminds me of the way God works in our lives. Here are a few, but I’ll bet you can think of even more:
*He takes broken lives and turns them into something lovely and useful
*But, not without a lot of work!
*Our hearts have to be melted down first!
*Our Master craftsman keeps us as “the apple” of his eye!
*The process requires assistance from trainees (the body of Christ?).
*We’re not all that glorious in ourselves but need additives to make our lives colorful. (The fruits and unique gifts of the Holy Spirit come to mind.)
* We’d never be anything more than a blob without the Holy Spirit filling us.
*It takes a lot of shaking up, spiritual surgery, filling, shaping, and heat to make us into something useful.
*Because God is compassionate, I believe he must feel the heat when he works!
*When finished, the mature Christian (who’s really never finished in this life!) is a joy to everyone who comes in contact with him.
* After fiery trials, it takes some time before the “vessels” are really serviceable.
Are you ready to be made into something even more beautiful than you are to bring blessing to those around you, or would you rather just live for yourself?
Or, maybe you’re struggling with the glass ceiling and can’t seem to get where you feel like you need to be getting. 
God is in the business of taking us to the next level no matter where we’re at…of making us into something more wonderful that we are at present. But, first we have to be humble enough to climb into his recycling bin and let him take charge. Have you done that? If not, would you like to do that?
Has this been true of you? “Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee” (Deuteronomy 32:18).
If so, this is God’s offer, not only to you, but to all of us: “Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the Lord that formed it, to establish it; the Lord is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:2-3).
Summer Setting 