Jagged Edges

Life has jagged edges, abrasive surfaces, serrated openings, and corrugated backs. These help us to grip something, but how hard? They dull a sharp knife and make it a saw, they wipe out a pattern, and make things hard to follow. These crinkled grooves wear away at a habit and move us toward change. O happy day, we might say, but not to dismay.

If we are annoyed about the rough and tumble, could it be that we matriculate toward the smooth side? Whatta you mean? I mean; are you partial, comfort-bent toward the safe living zone ? We all admit this, because we all grossly underestimate how drastic a metamorphosis beckons its operation within us. We find ourselves thinking in tiny adjustments’ terms, while God determines shifting paradigms, and  entire value-systems’ revamps. 

See, we must be born again, then our “born again” must emerge from its safe cocoon. We need the shell to be removed. Unfortunately for us we carefully erected that membrane, piece by piece. Now, to our chagrin, it seems to be dismantling itself, chunk by chunk. Lets take a closer look.

A farmer planted a seed. Frankly, the damp ground didn’t protect the little fellow, but instead brought decay. One day that same seed burst open and discovered life and growth inside itself. How weird that this should happen! It doesn’t make sense, opportunistically speaking.

A leader dreams a dream, sees a picture, envisions a beautiful idea. He excites his senses, but how to implement? The more he leaves behind the creation of his imagination to contemplate time and space’s fabrication, the more that vision forsakes its pristine excellence and energy. Folks, the vision sent by God must find its actualization from God, or it ain’t gonna happen, plain and simple.

So, some lead and some manage, some dream and maybe others build those dreams. One dream may require many managers, and behind them dwells a move of God. So, can a visionary do anything to help his dream? Yes, he can. He must invest himself and vision into others. He must first commit his works to God, see his thoughts established, then he must understand something about how God does things. 

God uses people to carry out His purposes. These people are like you and me: weak, impotent, frail, and paralyzed. They too must gain release from within. Our job: allow God’s use of us to help release others’ life. How does it happen? It happens by an impartation of the love, care, nurture, and tenderness found only in God Himself. People must first gain the security of “who God is” toward them. O this is vital!

We could never face the bastard file, the cosmic hedge trimmers, the orbital sander, nor the battering ram, without much, and I mean “much,” security. Friends, our sense of security is an entire value system makeover, it is a brand new existence, it must be our new heart, core, center, very fundamental being. We are gonna be yanked and bent, shocked and upturned, rankled and fried. We cannot hold on to the shell, membrane, cocoon, or womb. We cannot operate fearful, guilt filled, defensive, or dulled.

People are gonna get banged around, wounded, messed with, and shackled, yes. Repression may never allow wounds to find healing. Suppression and denial hide, for a moment, the fermentation of waste and decay, the infection spreading. God has a plan to deliver you and me out of it’s destructive end.

Please don’t be discouraged with the hackings, sandings, and even piercings. They are allowed and sent by God. The siftings eventuate into conversions; and these brand new outlooks and values channel us into the true new heart desires.  We wax different, we have changed, we experience transformation, and pass over liberated! God has placed us on the wheel and formed a precious pottery.

In closing, what are some of God’s dreams? They proceed from His heart and mind. They reveal His purpose to redeem and transform men. They subsist plans and projects that become the arms and legs of a loving, compassionate Savior, Healer, Forgiver, and Friend. We simply get the privilege to participate. Amen!