Something Magnificent!

 

Something you may not know about me is that I am a woodworker on the side.  It is a hobby of mine.  I love making furniture. Especially cabinets, shelves, beds, and dressers. I'm not a master at it but I love it! :)  It is so fun to create things and make someone happy!  

Most of you may know I have been thinking a lot lately about wanting to be more fruitful in my walk with God and hear His voice better.  Sometimes.... Okay lets be honest.... most times I'm super impatient.  I long to move forward and get to the next step.  I have a hard time living in the particular phase I am in with God. 

Lately, my mind has been floating onto the idea of sanding.  I know it sounds a little silly.  But as a woodworker, sanding is one of the most important parts of a good project.  It is definitely not the most fun part of a project, but it is necessary for a project to look good. Maybe there is some woodworker out there that could sand all day and be in heaven, but for me, it is the proverbial "pulling teeth" part of the job. :D    

The things that make it so awful is that it kicks up dust, it takes a very long time, and if you don't do your steps right you might have to start over.  Plus I have to wear a mask and glasses to protect my eyes and lungs.   Boooo!  :(    LOL :)   You can tell I just love it can't you?  :D  

Now power tools help and make the job somewhat faster, but it is still a tedious job, and they come with their own set of precautions. 

One thing that has stood out to me about sanding, is that if I go to fast or don't pay attention it is easy to damage or ruin a project.  It takes fineness and time, but if you do it right, the finished product is Magnificent!  Your clear coat or stain or paint goes on so much easier and the project shines!

It's kind of like God working on us.  We want to get to the Magnificent stage like yesterday. :) At least that is me.  But building character and a relationship is a delicate time consuming thing.  When done too fast hearts are broken and spirits damaged.  And like in sanding each stage is important. 

If I have a project and it has some scratches or gouges in the wood, I have to start with a course grain sandpaper and slowly work my way up to a finer sand paper to get the right finish.  The courser sand paper digs away at the imperfections across the whole surface and evenly removes the flaws.  If I try and go at them with a fine sandpaper and just spot sand, I will end up with a divot in the wood and it will take forever.  I will create and even bigger problem.  Because if I leave the divot and go ahead and put my stain or clear coat on, that divot will stand out like a sore thumb.  

I know this analogy might be a little obvious or parochial, and you may have seen it coming around the corner before I got to this point in the post.  But sometimes these simple truths hold more impact than the elaborate dissertation. 

I find it fascinating all the parallels God puts in our world to point us back to Him, and to help us understand how He works on us to produce the beautiful creation and relationship He intended.  This sandpaper in our lives, trials, frustrations, waiting, grow us, refine us, and make us stronger.  Sanding is long and tedious and yes ... painful.... but we don't have to be afraid of it.  We can rest knowing that God is working in us and making us into something Magnificent!  

This next verse is one of my favorites and I have probably quoted it before, but the message rings true always.

•      James 1:2-4 - "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything"NIV

So this whole analogy helps remind me that when I start getting frustrated that things are not moving fast enough in my walk with God, that I need to remember every good thing takes time.  God gives me just what I need for right now.  Whatever, I'm going through right now, however painful, is shaping me slowly but surely into what God intended me to be.

So I can be joyful in the pain...... Yes.... you heard me right.  That is what the verse says.  How would we handle our trails and frustrations differently if we really believed that God was shaping us into something Magnificent?  We would be excited right? Or at least WAY easier to endure. If we could see the end result we would fall over in Awe and Utter Amazement!

I repeat this again because it is sooooo important to remember in the Christian  walk.... It is not what is happening outside us that matters..... It is what is happening inside our hearts that matters.  So through the "sanding" we can still have joy and rest in God working out His good for our lives.

So I'm going to try to lay down my frustration today and remember to rest in Him knowing this time is going to turn me into something and someone God intended all along. Something Shining and Magnificent!  What about you?   Lets do it together!  With Joy! :)