Second Baptist Baytown

      I AM a life long learner, a permanent student, and recognize that I will always be
one who needs to learn. I pray that I never allow myself to become cantankerous and so
wise in my own eyes that I loose the ability to listen and learn. I believe that the Lord is
my teacher and is in the process of a daily, never-ending work to conform me to His
image. His goal is not to just get me to heaven, but to cause me to act like and look like
Jesus on the way there. A tool that He uses in my life, and one I have come to embrace,
is what I have heard referred to as “heavenly sandpaper”. It can be a person, family
member, experience, task, or responsibility that consistently rubs and irritates us to
adjust, grow, and change to be more like Him. A great illustration of this process is the
story of a man who was invited to the studio of a sculptor who was going to sculpt a
horse from a large piece of rock. The man asked how the sculptor was going to make
that hunk of rock look like a horse. The answer he got is a wonderful picture of how God
is working on us; “I am going to knock everything off of that piece of rock that does not
look like a horse,” replied the sculptor. According to scripture (I Cor. 15:27 & the story of
Job) God controls, allows, and limits all that occurs in our lives. It then goes on to say
that God takes the negative and uses it to for good (Gen. 50:20, Romans 8:28). This
perspective of how God works begs that I assess my response to the things, events,
and people in my life that I see as negatives, irritants, and frustrations. When I approach
Godʼs “heavenly sandpaper” (meant to shape and mold me in His likeness) with an
attitude of resistance I am the one who looses. I miss out on the divine result that He
has planned. I become less like Christ and miss the chance to grow.
    I want to ask you the same question that I ask myself. How does your
perspective on the negative, irritating, and frustrating things in your life affect your
teachability. Are you resistant to allowing God to mold and shape you with the negative?
Do you allow Him to mold you with both the negative and positive? Have you come to a
point in life where you are even able to say that you can embrace the negative, irritating,
and even the painful things that He allows? It sure takes a lot of trust to embrace the
painful things.
     There is an interesting thing that happens when we are able to embrace the
“heavenly sandpaper”. We become less aware of the sandpaperʼs work, because we
are allowing the life of Jesus in us to respond to the circumstances. The more we are
like Him, the less irritating and frustrating the sandpaper becomes.