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Last week I shared about the reality that there are people in our lives that rub us the wrong way and cause friction. Not uncommonly, we are often related to those people! We should also be aware that we may be like sandpaper in another person’s life. We may want to step back and examine whether we are being more coarse and abrasive than we need to be. I say “need” because I believe we are called to be in relationship and if those relationships are to be meaningful, they will involve some “rubbing” as God uses us to refine one another.
Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” In order for iron to sharpen, it must come in contact with other iron. The same is true for us if we want to be sharpened and grow in Christ.
Many of use share the belief that conflict is bad and we work hard to keep life and relationships conflict free. Today, I want to challenge that belief and suggest that we could all use some sanding, under divine direction. Could we allow ourselves to be REAL in relationships – to really share our lives – our struggles and our victories; to welcome it when a sister in Christ comes alongside and God uses her to sand a rough spot or two?
Keep in mind that there is a broad range of grit, or coarseness available in sandpaper and the selection of grit is dependent on the job. Ask God for His wisdom on what grit you need in your life and what grit He is calling you to be in someone else’s life.
Happy sanding! //Jeanne
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Lessons from Sandpaper
This December I will be gathering with extended family from all over to celebrate my Grandfather’s 100th birthday. I have not seen many of these relatives for years and honestly it will be the largest and most complete family gathering we have ever had. Many of you gathered with family over Thanksgiving and/or have plans to do so over the Holidays. I am confident that with rare exception we would all say we love our family. Have you ever wondered why it is then that family has the ability to rub us raw and cause friction in ways no one else can. Kind of like sandpaper …. And that is why today’s presentation is titled “Lessons from Sandpaper.”
First a lesson about sandpaper: it comes in various sizes, or grit, which refers to the size of the particle of the embedded material. The range is 12 (very coarse) to 1000 which is very, very fine. There is also a range of uses for sandpaper. I personally have used it to smooth dry wall, refinish furniture, and remove rust from my garden tools. No matter the use, some basic principles apply:
1. When you start the job, you begin with the coarsest paper appropriate for that job to deal with the roughest areas first. Then you gradually work to a finer and finer grit as the job progresses.
2. If you have a particularly rough or stubborn area, it may take repeated applications and some elbow grease to get it smoothed out.
3. Even when you think you’re done, you will find an area that could use a little more attention.
Frankly this reminds me a lot of God’s refining process in my life. It shouldn’t surprise us that God would use relationships to accomplish His work in our lives. After all, He is a relational God who thinks of relationships so highly that He was willing to send His son to be born so that He could relate to us so that when He died He would restore our relationship with the Father. God’s purpose for us as His children is that we become sanctified – made more and more into the image of Christ. I don’t know about you, but for me that says a lot of change and a lot of refining. Most always it is through relationships that our rough edges are revealed, and I believe God does that so we will submit ourselves to His molding and shaping.
So next time somebody rubs you the wrong way, instead of focusing on how inappropriate or irritating they are, ask yourself if maybe God is using them as divine sandpaper, then ask God to show you if you need to change.
First a lesson about sandpaper: it comes in various sizes, or grit, which refers to the size of the particle of the embedded material. The range is 12 (very coarse) to 1000 which is very, very fine. There is also a range of uses for sandpaper. I personally have used it to smooth dry wall, refinish furniture, and remove rust from my garden tools. No matter the use, some basic principles apply:
1. When you start the job, you begin with the coarsest paper appropriate for that job to deal with the roughest areas first. Then you gradually work to a finer and finer grit as the job progresses.
2. If you have a particularly rough or stubborn area, it may take repeated applications and some elbow grease to get it smoothed out.
3. Even when you think you’re done, you will find an area that could use a little more attention.
Frankly this reminds me a lot of God’s refining process in my life. It shouldn’t surprise us that God would use relationships to accomplish His work in our lives. After all, He is a relational God who thinks of relationships so highly that He was willing to send His son to be born so that He could relate to us so that when He died He would restore our relationship with the Father. God’s purpose for us as His children is that we become sanctified – made more and more into the image of Christ. I don’t know about you, but for me that says a lot of change and a lot of refining. Most always it is through relationships that our rough edges are revealed, and I believe God does that so we will submit ourselves to His molding and shaping.
So next time somebody rubs you the wrong way, instead of focusing on how inappropriate or irritating they are, ask yourself if maybe God is using them as divine sandpaper, then ask God to show you if you need to change.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
A lesson in Thanksliving
Whether we gather with friends and family or simply anticipate the advent of Christmas shopping season, most if not all of us will be celebrating Thanksgiving this week. It is a great reminder every year to pause and give thanks for some of the many things we have in our lives to be thankful for. Did you know that there are many references in the Bible to the call to be thankful – from the Old Testament instructions to build an altar to acknowledge God’s gracious provisions to the New Testament teachings on growing a thankful heart. Instead of celebrating Thanksgiving once a year and setting aside one day or season, I’d like to suggest we spend our life as one of “Thanksliving”. This is not an original idea from me, but when I heard it last week, it resonated with me.
So what keeps us from being/feeling/expressing thankfulness? I submit to you that it is a result of many of the following factors: blurring of needs and wants, a sense of entitlement, a mis-guided expectation that life should be calm and stress free, comparing what we have or don’t have to others, unrealistic expectations, unmet expectations - the list may go on.
What is the problem with not having a thankful heart? I can share from my own life, that when I am not thanksliving, I experience dissatisfaction in my wardrobe, my things, my relationships, my extended family – and at times even my life in general. I become far too self-focused and subsequently self-absorbed. I believe that not being thankful is part of the natural woman or one living according to the flesh and that is why it is taught and modeled so often in scripture that we are to mature in our thanksgiving and our thanksliving.
Years ago when I faced some difficult changes in my life, a Godly friend suggested that the best way to grow in life was to develop my thankful muscles. She challenged me keep a Thankful Journal by writing 5 things that I am thankful for each and every day. She gave me a simple steno pad with Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I began to look for God at work in my life and as I was diligent to record nightly in my journal. My entries ranged from “the feel of my son’s hand in mine on our walk” to “weekly garbage service” and anything in between. Sometimes my entries were more specific and this is how I experienced God using a heart of thankfulness to change me. One particular person in my life has been difficult for me and I remember the day God put it on my heart that I should use at least one of my entries each day to note something specifically regarding that person. I confess that the first night, my page sat blank for awhile until I acknowledged that I was going to need some help! What I wrote that night was that I could be, and I was thankful, that He loved her as much as He loved me and that if she was the only person alive, He would have sent His son to die on the cross for her. God used my step of obedience to begin to change our relationship. It is not perfect, but it is miles better than it used to be!
This Thanksgiving season can be the start of something new and bigger in our lives as we purpose each day to look for God at work in our lives and take time each day to acknowledge even the littlest of things and give Him thanks. Let’s be thankslivers as well as thanksgivers.
So what keeps us from being/feeling/expressing thankfulness? I submit to you that it is a result of many of the following factors: blurring of needs and wants, a sense of entitlement, a mis-guided expectation that life should be calm and stress free, comparing what we have or don’t have to others, unrealistic expectations, unmet expectations - the list may go on.
What is the problem with not having a thankful heart? I can share from my own life, that when I am not thanksliving, I experience dissatisfaction in my wardrobe, my things, my relationships, my extended family – and at times even my life in general. I become far too self-focused and subsequently self-absorbed. I believe that not being thankful is part of the natural woman or one living according to the flesh and that is why it is taught and modeled so often in scripture that we are to mature in our thanksgiving and our thanksliving.
Years ago when I faced some difficult changes in my life, a Godly friend suggested that the best way to grow in life was to develop my thankful muscles. She challenged me keep a Thankful Journal by writing 5 things that I am thankful for each and every day. She gave me a simple steno pad with Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
I began to look for God at work in my life and as I was diligent to record nightly in my journal. My entries ranged from “the feel of my son’s hand in mine on our walk” to “weekly garbage service” and anything in between. Sometimes my entries were more specific and this is how I experienced God using a heart of thankfulness to change me. One particular person in my life has been difficult for me and I remember the day God put it on my heart that I should use at least one of my entries each day to note something specifically regarding that person. I confess that the first night, my page sat blank for awhile until I acknowledged that I was going to need some help! What I wrote that night was that I could be, and I was thankful, that He loved her as much as He loved me and that if she was the only person alive, He would have sent His son to die on the cross for her. God used my step of obedience to begin to change our relationship. It is not perfect, but it is miles better than it used to be!
This Thanksgiving season can be the start of something new and bigger in our lives as we purpose each day to look for God at work in our lives and take time each day to acknowledge even the littlest of things and give Him thanks. Let’s be thankslivers as well as thanksgivers.
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