By David O'Hara - Care Deacon
I love to work with my hands. I love to see something, create a vision, plan and follow through to a finished project. This usually leads me to woodworking, small engines or home improvement projects as they feed that desire to create.
My latest project is a small toy box for our family room. To match with our décor, I started plans for a rough, older-looking toy box with weathered wood. As I searched through my collection of scraps from prior projects, I found 6 mixed pieces of wood. I remembered back to when I picked up that lumber at the estate auction of Erin’s late Aunt Helen some seven or eight years ago. They had some paint on them, weren’t planed, sanded, square, or even the same length or width. In fact, I got them because they were left behind by their buyer. Someone had gauged his “find” in a pile of treasures and cast off this mixture of oak, poplar and cedar wood as trash. Here, some eight years later that wood was exactly what I was looking for.
That wood was about to be planed square, arranged and assembled with a purpose. It would be cut, glued, screwed, sanded and accessorized. This process got me thinking about how we are just like that wood. We are rough. We have paint on us and blemishes from our sins and poor decisions. We have knots and dents, holes and scars. In fact, many of us feel the rejection of those scars and hurts, being cast off as by the auction buyer: unwanted, broken, useless. But our Creator is the master woodworker. We are His handiwork. He takes us as we are and gives strength to the meek, blessings to the humble. He re-purposes us from a pile of trash for a real, true purpose. His design is far more elaborate than a toy box. He is building a kingdom that stretches to every tribe, tongue and nation. And in the midst of His master plan are each of us. Broken, but useful in spreading the good news of our Lord and Savior.
God, thank you for making me with a purpose. Thank you for making me as Your handiwork.
This past Sunday, Pastor Eric challenged us to start writing our laments to God and encouraged us to share them with others. Don't forget that if you missed out on this sermon or any other, you can listen to them on the church website or download them to your iPod through iTunes.