In the Carpenter's Hands

My husband, Jeff, works for a company that makes custom cabinet doors. One day he walked through the manufacturing plant and noticed several planks of Honduras mahogany tossed into the scrap pile. The exotic lumber was accidentally planed too thin for cabinet doors, so the expensive wood awaited the fateful wood chipper. But he got permission to bring the wood home instead.

For the next few Saturdays, Jeff worked in the garage on a secret project. When he was ready to reveal his mysterious endeavor, he shielded my eyes with hands that smelled like clean forest, and he slowly let me see. He had crafted a beautiful jewelry box.

A transformation had taken place in the hands of a carpenter.

Every time I look at the jewelry box I remember what the wood looked like when Jeff first brought it home — when he spread out the long pieces of richly colored mahogany on the driveway. The varied grain patterns glinted in the sunlight. An accident in the shop had destined it for destruction. But someone saw its potential. What was worthless in one person’s eyes was wrought full of promise in another person’s eyes.

And we have a Carpenter who longs to do the same for us.

When crisis strikes and we wonder how we’ll ever recover, we know that nothing comes as a surprise to God.

The unexpected accident.
The unforeseen betrayal.
The unwelcomed diagnosis.
The unwanted divorce.
The unplanned job loss.

None of it catches God off guard. He knew before the sands of time what each day would hold.

Jesus said, “You will have suffering in this world” (John 16:33).

God never promised us a pain-free life, but He did promise to be with us every step of the way. And He promises to use every circumstance — even our deepest sorrows — to somehow refine us, to refashion our hearts to look more like His . . . if we’ll let Him.

When the deep waters of suffering threaten to take the very breath right out of us, the deeper waters of life speak hope into the impossible. Like the Honduras mahogany that had once been cast aside and considered useless, we are never beyond the hope of our Maker. When we surrender every heartache to Him and pray, “Not my will, but Your will be done,” then God comes in and transforms us in ways we never thought possible.

Then we become a new vessel of grace, a living testimony to the heart-renovation that takes place in the hands of the Carpenter.

Throughout the Week . . .

In Pastor Jeff’s message this weekend, he challenged us to invite God into those painful experiences in our lives and ask God to use those circumstances to reshape us into His likeness.

This kind of heart transformation begins with surrender. Look up the following verses and then make these verses your prayer.

Luke 22:42
Psalm 143:10
Philippians 1:6
Philippians 1:20-21
1 Peter 1:3-6

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