We are the Acrylic...

A year ago I learned to use a lathe.  My favorite things to turn on the lathe are pens.  The pens have become a present I give to my graduating seniors at school. Yesterday my brother, dad and I spent over six hours turning pens.

I love the time I spend at the lathe.  Not just because I get to create something that I think is beautiful but because it’s time I get to spend time with God.  With the noise from the machinery, we have to wear earplugs so there usually is not a lot of talking going on between those in the shop. There is time to focus and communicate with God.

During that time yesterday, the scripture about the potter and the clay came to mind.  In Isaiah 64:8 it says

Yet, O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
We are all the work of your hand.

The scripture could have just as easily said we are the acrylic and you are the turner. Just as you do not see the form and beauty in the lump of clay, you also do not see the form and beauty in the acrylic blank.  It is plain and in some cases even ugly, The colors are muted, but as you apply the tools to the acrylic you knock away the rough edges.  You slice away excess material.  As you smooth the surface until you find the shape that is pleasing. The colors and patterns that were hidden are revealed.  After achieving the desired shape, you sand over and over from course grit to an ultra fine sandpaper getting the acrylic even smoother than possible with the tools.  The final step before removing the acrylic from the lathe is to apply polish, polish and even more polish until it looks like glass.  As you apply each coat, you hold a cloth against the material and allow friction to heat the material and polish.  As it heats up, you see the shine and and it continues to smooth the surface.  Then you remove the blank and assemble it with other parts to create a pen.

This is similar to the process we go through as we mature and grow in Christ.  We begin as that plain, sometimes ugly, block.  God cuts and chips away at the rough edges.  He forms us and smoothes us to the shape He wants.  And sometimes He has to repeat this and turn off more material when a catch (chip or divot from a tool) occurs.  As we mature, He no longer has to use the tools.  He can move to the sandpaper and eventually the polish because He has  shaped us and all of our excess has been removed.

In the end, the beauty of the person has been revealed just as the beauty of the acrylic was revealed.  It is there for all to see.  The beauty of who God has created you to be.  The time and energy He is willing to put in is amazing.  The fact that He is persistent and constant is mind boggling.  That He never removes us from that lathe or throws us into the trash bin because we are too rough or we continually need refinement or won’t become smooth is unimaginable.  In the end, it is His persistent craftsmanship that shines through this process in our lives.