Dare to Surrender to the Process of Change
You are a masterpiece in progress! Do you realize that? When God created you, He was so proud of His accomplishment. He looked at you with incredible love in His eyes and said, “This is good.” However, He didn’t stop there; that was only the beginning. He has begun a great work in you that He has promised to fulfill to completion (Philippians 1:6). He is working everything in our lives toward the goal of forming us into His image (Romans 8:28-29). Daily circumstances, decisions, trials, relationships, blessings, struggles, hurts, words spoken to us, lessons learned – He uses all of it to shape us in order that his splendor will be shown through us and that we will become “a special utensil for honorable use.” (2Timothy 2:21).
Yesterday’s blog post emphasized understanding our worth and value in Him. We are His favorite of all of His creation, and He placed a high price on us when He gave His very life to redeem us. It can be quite a long process for us to finally come to terms with our worth, but then to go even deeper to embrace the work He is doing in our lives to beautify and strengthen us for His purpose takes a lot of faith, trust, and cooperation. We cannot lose our faith or our sense of worth when we face the trials that come as part of the process. We may experience a lot of pain and confusing situations in our lives that can be difficult to understand (1 Peter 1:6-7). However, we can rest in the fact that He is using all of this to make us radiant from the inside out (Psalms 34:5). Think of it as God’s beauty treatments! When you think of the wonder of all He has created, imagine all the more the beauty of what He is forming within you!
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| This is an example of the art work we saw. For more: http://42concepts.com/design/dale-chihuly |
When my children were young, one of our favorite past times was to explore the many nearby museums, theaters, gardens, zoos, etc. There was no shortage of things to do in Columbus! During one of our visits to the botanical gardens, they were featuring a local artist’s work throughout the campus. Interestingly he was a glass artist, and we had never seen such elaborate, unique, and beautiful works of art in our lives. Sure, we had seen glass art before, but his creations were far beyond any others we had ever seen. They were breathtaking works of art!
I couldn’t help but wonder about the process of making such stunning creations. How in the world did he come up with such unique designs? Had anyone else ever done anything like this before? I wonder how difficult it would be to make these intricate shapes and blend such vibrant and beautiful colors. How did he transform those shapeless lumps into such gorgeous works of art?
Years ago, I had attended a glass making demonstration and watched the master use extremely hot fire to melt and stretch the glass into the desired shape. He showed how he pounded and stretched some, squeezed and pinched some, pulled and twisted some – Ouch! I’m sure glad the glass doesn’t have feelings! What a mean process that would be if it did! It was so amazing to see how he manipulated the glass to create the beautiful designs.
The simple concept here is that beauty often requires much pain, hard work, and a lot of time before it is attainable. Those beautiful works of glass art had to go through an elaborate process of painful manipulation before they reached their final state of magnificence.
This is true with anything that is beautiful or magnificent. Consider the excruciating process of developing the ballerinas who perform so majestically. I have seen the stretching, the work, the painful rehearsals. It is all necessary to accomplish such exquisiteness. Consider the hours and hours of painstaking rehearsal before the musicians in the symphony orchestra are able to perform with such breathtaking brilliance. Every masterpiece, from very genre, has a story of enduring a difficult, even painful process of achieving its beauty.
Hence, as the masterpiece that you are becoming, you must endure a similar process. Be patient with the process and understand the necessity of the pain and anguish you often must endure. God is doing a marvelous work in you through it all, and He gives you the grace and strength to endure. It will all be worth it when you finally reach the pinnacle of the process, and you approach your Heavenly Father, hearing Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” In the meantime, keep your eyes open to wonder of what God is doing in your life and appreciate how truly beautiful you already are. You are on your way!
Before I answer today’s questions, I want to include an extremely powerful video that illustrates the process I have been describing. God is chiseling anything out of our lives that is not like Him. It can be a painful process, but oh how awesome it is! Go Skit Guys! The Skit Guys “God’s Chisel”
Answers to Today’s Questions…
Today’s truth is speaking to me…
Sometimes the process of growth can be painful and even excruciating. It can also take a very long time, such as in the process of a grain of sand becoming a gorgeous pearl. That process takes about five years, so imagine how long it will take to form my character and my heart into His image! Everything I go through in life is something that He uses to help me grow and to perfect me. I can see how everything works together for our good when I consider this process of how He uses even the test and trials. He chisels away impurities and makes me beautiful from the inside out. He is making me stronger, wiser, useful, more beautiful, and fit for His use. He has a purpose for my life, and He is preparing me for it. I am a work in progress, and I can trust that God will complete the process. My goal is for His glory to be seen in and through me so that the world may know Him better by observing my life.
God is asking me to…
Walk in confidence and understanding that He is doing a beautiful work in me.
Trust and do not fret with the pain of life but to see it as a purification process.
Cooperate with the process. Obey, pray, study His Word to learn His will, submit, seek Him with all my heart, and surrender all to Him.
Lay aside habits and thinking patterns that are a hindrance to the process.
My challenge is to…
Be patient with the process and trust Him
Put off all old mindsets and insecurities.
Submit to His discipline and be willing to change.
Today’s Prayer (Debbie Alsdorf)…
Lord, I long for your Spirit’s present-tense power. I want the indwelling life of Christ to be my greatest reality. Teach me to focus on the truth that Christ is in me. Thank you for being the restorer of all that has been lost and broken in my life. Thanks that you use the brokenness to make me more beautiful. Oh you are an amazing God – wasting nothing, using everything, writing my story as I live in you.
Favorite Quotes…
“This daily change happens through the surrender of our will to God. God is not destroying our will but rather transforming it as he changes us into all He has planned us to be.”
“God’s life in me brings out the beauty of His creation. He takes broken hearts and heals them, messy lives and mends the, tears and dries them.”
“It’s always been His plan to renew me, revive me, restore me, and give me courage to quit living my life in my own flimsy, fleeting beauty, and to live in Him and the beauty of His holiness.”
“It is time to believe that the shame that has covered us or the insecurity that has surrounded us can be changed by looking to Christ.”
“So take an inward look at the hurt that seems to be holding you back, mentally place it in your hands, and lift that hurt to the God who loves you. Then believe His Word: you are radiant.”
“Dare yourself to be a part of someone else’s healing. What can yo do to help restore the beauty of a broken friend or relative? What practical act can you do today that expresses, “Jesus loves you and so do I?”
“Jesus gave His life for me, laid down everything He had, so that I might be reconciled to God through His death. His death at work in me bring beauty to life.”
