Often the best things come the hardest.
The most worthwhile things come at the greatest cost.
And what we need most is what we want least in the moment.
But God knows best.
And he surely knew what he was doing this February when he decided to do some heart renovation on me! Through friends and quiet time with him, he revealed some uncomfortable things about myself—things that were incredibly painful, but also incredibly true. He showed me weaknesses I really hadn’t wanted to see before.
And at the same time, he showed me his incredible grace. He revealed that he will not leave me where I am, but that his grace is sufficient as he makes me new.
Think of it This Way…
This video by the Skit Guys does an excellent job displaying the process God chooses to change us by as he makes us more like him.
God is the Master Artist. He knows what he is doing and what he sets his hand to he makes beautiful.
We are the wood, valuable and priceless in his eyes. Even when we’re in the rough, as a master sculptor, he can look at a block of wood and see the finished piece of art even before he lays chisel to wood. He can see the beauty even when all we see is the coarse grain pattern. And he wants to make each of us his masterpiece.
To do that, he must chisel away the parts of us that don’t reflect his heart. All that comes between us and him must go.
But I am human and I feel the pain as his chisel does its work.
The process isn’t made easier by the fact that in many ways I am comfortable with me. It hurts to change, to see me being cut away.
God has been chiseling pride and people pleasing from my heart. He’s shown me that I’ve often cared more about having the answer than genuinely caring. He’s convicted me that I haven’t been open and broken with where I am or vulnerable with my weakness.
No Longer Content to Stay the Same
I still have a long way to go. There is still much for him to chisel! And, “yes,” it hurts. But that is how the process goes.
I don’t want easy; I want best. And he knows what best is.
I don’t want to stay the same. I’m not satisfied with staying as a block of wood in the Master Artist’s workshop. I want him to make me into something that reflects his creative design and patient love.
The final goal is this: that when others look at us, they see the skill and patience and love of the Father. For we as his works exist to put the beauty of his character on display. Not that others say, “Wow, that wood is surely amazing!” but rather, “What an incredible Woodworker!”
My Challenge
Today I would challenge you to surrender to the master Sculptor. He alone can see all we were meant to be. He alone can do the work to make it possible. He alone has the talent and love and passion to make us into masterpieces that reflect his heart.
He is ready and waiting. And today, you can say with me, “Daddy, you have all of me. Take all my brokenness and make something beautiful. Take my weakness and be my strength. Even when it hurts, I will trust in you. Take my dreams and give them wings to fly for you. Make my life a living story, a testament to your redemptive love!”
When we hold nothing back from him, he stops at nothing to make us into all we were destined to become for his glory. Share on XThis is the wonder of it all: that God takes our brokenness and makes something beautiful and even whole out of it. And it all begins when we surrender to him.
When we cry out to him, he will work in us! When we hold nothing back from him, he stops at nothing to make us into all we were destined to become for his glory.
