masterpiece

A Wood In Progress

/ The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

When wood is raw and freshly cut, it is still rough and splinter-prone. If you rub your hand across it, you may pull away filled with a little pain from a piece of wood merging with your tender fingers. It is hard to grasp and difficult to display, but it can be used for very practical things, such as saw horses, firewood and boarding up holes or drafty windows.

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To be a bit more useful, a woodsman will begin to sand that raw wood. (Sanding, Planing and Scraping are all methods of smoothing wood. Each depends on the type of wood and the desired results from the smoothing. For simplicity, I will only refer to sanding.) The first sandpaper applied is very coarse, and it will shave away much of the roughness and splinted wood.  As the plank become smoother, more refined pieces of sandpaper are used to cause more and more fine-tuned sanding. Once, the piece is smoothed to the creator’s liking, he or she will run his hands over the fine, smooth piece of wood.

In the final stages of refining, the carpenter might even smooth the wood with cloths or apply a varnish, fiberglass or stain to finish the handiwork. He may create shelves, cabinets, tables, chairs, or even doors and window frames. In the end, a beautiful work of art is presented for daily use or display.

smithsonian magazine
smithsonian magazine
smithsonian magazine

This is how our Heavenly Father prepares us as well. When we are first saved, our approach to Christianity, life and even each other can be so rough that, if we aren’t careful, we might leave “splinters” in the lives of those around us. God has to smooth out those rough places. He has to apply pressure, allow challenges and even trials to come to “sand away” those splintery spots. In the end, He creates a beautiful work of art within our lives that might be used by His might hand to bring impact into the lives of someone else.Sometimes, the method might seem strenuous, tedious and even unrelenting, but just trust, He will finish what He has started. Never give up through the process, and when He is finished, know you will never be the same. It will be worth it!

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Need A Little Stretching?

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

Have you ever watched a taffy puller in a candy shop? Or a bread baker kneading the dough? Or maybe a potter molding and shaping the clay at the wheel?

  

None of this happens in an instant. No, not one of these processes happens without a lot of pushing, pulling, poking, and stretching beyond the original state. All of it, friction of some kind, to bring forth a beautiful masterpiece.

Do you know each one of us were created by the greatest Creator of All as a masterpiece? He has designed each and every one of us to be exactly what He desires.

Sometimes, life is going to feel like a huge taffy puller, drawing out the impurities, extracting what doesn’t need to be.  I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life when it feels EXACTLY like this!! I think, “Wow! I don’t know how much more pulling and stretching I can take!” Yet, when I allow Him to, God, in His infinite wisdom, keeps going deeper and deeper to remove those things which shouldn’t be, those fleshly things that get in the way of who He’s called me to be.

He wants all of me, all of us; so, we can hear with definition, see with clarification and speak and act with precision. He keeps stretching and refining; so, we might become a beautiful masterpiece that isn’t just a pretty piece to sit on a shelf, but one He can use against the enemies of His kingdom! Just like taffy or fresh, homemade bread or even beautiful pottery, it takes a process, and it takes perseverance, patience and a purpose-driven obedience to allow Him to finish what He has started.

Esther went through 12 months of preparation to see the king. David waited over 20 years to become king over Israel. Joseph went through 13 years of trials before he became the second in command to Pharaoh. Jesus waited 33 years of His life to fulfill His destiny here on this earth. When we start to get frustrated in the waiting and overwhelmed in the stretching, let us step back and be thankful for the preparation. God is always at work. The friction we feel is simply the formation of His perfect masterpiece!

Made For A Purpose

/ The WheatandTares

A repost from August 17, 2014…

Seashells are quite sought after in towns along the coast. People come from all over the world, and so many of them must make a stop by a little tiki hut or surf shop to pick up a bag full of shells before heading home. Some will even scour the seashore for hours to find the perfect white sand dollar or one of those beautiful, large, spiral conch shells.
We were recently in a little beach town, and it was not much different from the beach town I grew up near as a kid. You could find a beach store on almost every corner, and inevitably, someone was there looking for shells. So many love seashells, and they just long to take at least one or two back home.

I think this is because seashells are both beautiful and useful. Some are the most beautiful in color or shape, while others are almost perfect, or partially broken, or all together crushed and, for all in tense and purposes, these are in what appears to be a completely ruined state. However, every seashell was made for a purpose, and each can continue to be useful even after it is removed from the shoreline. Those gorgeous, colorful and perfect seashells are, often, used for decorating a new beach condo or taken home as a treasured memory and souvenir of days gone by. Those partially broken ones, many times, are picked up by a small child who cherishes it as a precious gift for their “sand collection.” Yet, those crushed up and “ruined” ones…what about those? What purpose could those actually have for someone in this life? Have you ever walked into a dockside restaurant, or even into an inland restaurant, claiming to have the “best coastal menu around,” and glanced at the floor? Often, you will see a beautiful mixture of crushed shells and cement. Designers will choose this type flooring to bring “just the right touch” to the business’ appeal. Even though, many would have just discarded these broken pieces as trash, they have been taken and made into a very functional, and rather beautiful, asset by a master designer.

While in that little coastal town the other day, we walked into a restaurant, and I looked down at the floor and noticed the broken shells mixed in the concrete. At just that same time, my 8 year old said, “Look! That’s seashells, isn’t it, Mom? Now, that’s cool!” Even he noticed the beauty in the practical. This made me think about our Heavenly Father and how He creates each of us in different ways and uses us for different purposes. He constructs some to be very loud and outspoken, while others of us, He designs to be of a more quiet and calm nature. He develops some to feel very comfortable in more solitude type settings, while others, He forms within them a more social, crowd-friendly appetite. He molds some to strive and achieve those “high and, seemingly, lofty positions,” and then others, He intricately shapes to be at peace in the “seemingly more simple and humble” places of life. We are all made differently; yet, we are all created for a purpose…His purpose. Just as the tiny creature living within the conch shell cannot determine for what goal that shell will be used after it is removed from the ocean, we cannot predetermine our destiny nor our purpose. We cannot predict, nor can we limit, the future. We just simply cannot know. However, we can definitely make decisions which will propel us to, or hinder us from, such goals, dreams, and even destinies. If we will but submit to His ways and surrender to His will, He will take care of the “big stuff.” If we can ever let loose of the stranglehold we often have on the thoughts and plans we make for this life, and if we can just get to the place of “freely letting go,” we will be astonished at what He can accomplish through us!

You see, if that conch shell “creature” saw only the cracked and broken shell from which it had just crawled, and it believed THAT was it’s destiny, it would surely become desperate, hopeless and in despair! That tiny, “almost perfect” clam shell might grow despondent if it believed it’s imperfections were the end of the road. What these creatures would have failed to observe is the precious little feet walking that way and the tiny little hands that planned to delicately hold that miniscule shell all the way back home in order to just nestle it in their perfect little collection spot. When you’re only at the level of the shoreline, and all you can see is the wave rolling over your head, it’s impossible to see the great big ocean beyond or the miles of beautiful seashore a mere two feet away.

Just remember, where you are right now is only PART of the process! LIFE is a process, and every “shell” is different! So, find your purpose for being here in this “ocean” called earth, and then, relish in every single moment you have before you! Enjoy the seashells in ALL different shapes, colors and sizes; find the one that is perfect for you right here, right now, and remember, most of all, even the most busted up and broken shell can become a beautiful masterpiece in the hands of the Master of creative design.

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Designed For This Season

/ The WheatandTares

No matter the season in life that you find yourself, God has designed you specifically for that season! He has known you before the beginning of time. He formed you. He created you. He has molded you through the years and designed you for the moment you are in right now. Even on your worst day, in your worst season, and yes, even in those death moments, when you wonder if He’s even near, He knew you would be there. He knew what you would need to survive, to make it through and to escape those dark moments.

Trial. Sickness. Childbirth. Teen years. Dying parent. Loss of job. Location move. Loss of friend. He has equipped you to get through it. He has trained you and provided for you the means to conquer and to win!! I used to wonder why God would have allowed me to be a child of a neglective father, a daughter with an opposing personality to my mother, a person who is very flexible, sensitive, quick to shed a tear, and tender hearted toward things that, sometimes, maybe seemed odd to “tougher-minded” people. I didn’t know then that He would one day have me marry a man called to the ministry, that I would encounter people from all walks of life, and be called upon to reach them in some way. I had no idea those wounds, those places of pain that were so hard to endure throughout my youth, would be the very things which helped me to relate to those around me, those who were hurting and wondering if God even cared for them. I never thought that my eyes that so easily shed a tear would one day be the very things that helped me see another’s pain. I never knew, those many years ago in my childhood, that my love for writing would birth a blog-writing passion as an adult, and that passion for writing would be projected from a pulpit on Sunday mornings and end up reaching people I hadn’t even personally met. I never knew that my easy going, yet, love for details-type personality would be tailor made for my strong-minded, type-A, leader husband, and that this same personality would help me to raise our two very strong-minded, independent, and adventurous boys, but it is, and this has been the perfect compatibility to make for a fun-loving, safe, secure and warmth centered home.

You see, each of us are handcrafted to think a certain way, talk a certain way, and even to act/react a certain way. God has designed us to fit the plans He has for us. Now, we can mess all that up, and we can reject His plans for our life, and we can even delay His best when we stubbornly hold onto those things which He desires us to lose. However, if we submit our lives to Him, even through our screw-ups, He is continually working things out for our good. Even through tragedy and other people’s sins toward us, God can still work His good into our lives. It doesn’t mean God makes these tragedies and these wounds happen to us; yet, He does know they will come. He does know when they will happen, and I can’t answer all the whys that we each may have in those moments; however, I can tell you He is a God who knows our pain, feels our pain and can comfort us in your pain. I can tell you He is a God who can take our pain, our tragedies and our failures, and He can mold and create a beautiful work of art from it! He is a Master Potter, a Master Artist…He can work a masterpiece from just a muddy lump of clay!!

Sometimes, I see it as a fine tapestry, which if only seen on the backside, it appears to have no pattern, no design and definitely no beauty that could be apparent to anyone of reason; yet, when that same tapestry is turned over, the most beautiful artwork will appear. When that same tapestry is hung in a great hall to be viewed by many, it brings great admiration and even reverence for its beauty. When placed in the mighty hands of our Creator, our lives can be as this beautiful tapestry. He miraculously weaves and interweaves His beauty to bring forth His beautiful plans for our life.

If you find yourself, in this moment, wondering why your past is as it is, and you wonder if there could possibly be any good to come of your life, I encourage you to just place your hand in the hand of the One who created you. Just take that little step toward Him, and you will find He is already there, waiting on you to call His name. Submit your life to the One who intricately formed and designed you for His purpose and His plan. He can see so much more than we can see. He knows so much more than we could ever know. Why would He not be the perfect One to guide and direct our lives?

Something Out of Nothing

/ The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

Is it possible that something that doesn’t look like anything–can still amount to something? …I’ve known a face in a mirror much like that…Could it be –no one receives the peace of God without giving thanks to God? –Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

God is a master of this. Creating something out of nothing… The “week” of creation taught us that. There was nothing; He spoke, and there was light…the earth was void and without form; He spoke, and there was earth and sky. There were no humans; He formed them, and man was made from the dust of the earth and woman from man’s rib. He is the master of creating something from nothing. 

So, why is it when it comes to ourselves, our lives, our dreams that we allow doubt and discouragement to creep in and hinder us from being whom we’ve dreamt to be? Why do we allow the circumstances in which we find ourselves to convince us of a different path than the one He set before us? If He said it, we should believe it. If He directed it, we should have confidence for it. 

I think too often we put too much faith in ourselves, and because we falter, we believe the promise wasn’t for us. Too often, we look to our own strength, our own abilities rather than His strength and His abilities. No wonder we get so weak! We can do nothing without Him. Oh, but when we put our hope and trust in Him, the sky is our limit!! 

Let Him in today. Let Him have control of your life. Let Him invest in your hopes and dreams. Just test Him, and see what He can do. He creates beauty out of ashes. He designs masterpieces out of nothing. That’s His specialty, and He loves you! He is God. Why would we expect anything less from Him?