Tumbling Stones

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Catey Stover in Victory Call

Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again. (Psalm 71:20-21 NIV)

My sister and brother-in-law ran a business for many years making small metal pins for use in machinery and other applications. Bob’s father had developed a technique for smoothing the pins. Any roughness on the pins would interfere with their function, so it was necessary to have them as smooth as possible. The pins were placed into a machine that had small rocks in it. The pins and rocks would be tumbled until all the jagged edges and rough places were completely ground down.
If the pins had feelings, you can imagine that they would not be too comfortable during the tumbling experience. For many hours they were tossed around, banging and bumping against the hard, unyielding rocks, over and over again. You can imagine them complaining, “Enough already! I was fine the way I was. I don’t need to be smoothed. This hurts! Just leave me alone!” Or perhaps they would be saying, “What did I do to deserve this torture? Does the person who made me hate me?” But the end result was a useful object as smooth as glass.

Have you ever felt as if your Maker doesn’t care or is punishing you as you go through storm after storm in life? Does it seem as if He is trying to destroy you and everything you care about? And yet we are told that He is a loving Father who cares about you so much. It can be difficult to look at our hardships with clear understanding. We may never know on this side of Heaven what the purpose of our trials is but, rest assured, there is a purpose. Father allows difficult times to “crowd us to Christ.” He allows trials to smooth the rough edges of our lives and conform our characters to the image of His Son. Does it feel good? No! But we can trust His loving hands to gently mold us with the skill of an artist and the passion of a father.

 

Written by Cherri Raws Freeman: Cherri Raws Freeman is the author of the book Beside Still Waters: Discovering Peace in the Midst of Your Child’s Addiction. She and her husband Joe, a graduate of the Colony of Mercy, founded Love Them to Life, a support ministry for mothers of addicts. Cherri is a graduate of Wheaton College and the mother of 5 adult children, 2 of which struggled with addiction issues.

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Think About This: “The one who obeys God’s instruction for today will develop a keen awareness of His direction for tomorrow.” ― Lysa TerKeurst

The Daily Bible Reading: Psalms 18-22| You can download our 2020 Daily Bible Reading Plan by clicking here. 

This Week’s Verse to Memorize:  “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ^14 [c]Because narrow is the gate and ^[d]difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. –Matthew 7:13-14

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the doctrinal and theological views held by America’s Keswick.