Gingerbread Crumbs & Company

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant: later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:11

All of us encounter chastening at one point or another in our Christian lives. Sometimes it's a matter of our having to give up our "good things" to make room for God's best. I am convinced that God has a plan for my life. What I need to do is to look to Him and listen to His message to me, letting His discipline in my life chip away at me until His plan emerges clearly. It's as if my life were a shapeless chunk of marble. It can remain that way - useless and not too interesting to look at. Or I can allow God to creatively chisel the useless part away until He makes something beautiful out of what is left.
If you've ever watched a sculptor at work, you notice that in the early stages of his efforts he may work quickly and remove large chunks, but the closer he comes to completing his task, the more careful and cautious he is. In the final stages, he sometimes removes only tiny pieces after careful consideration. In a sense, I think God might sometimes work like that, too. I wonder how big the chunks He next removes will be. Then I will yield "the peaceful fruit of righteousness"?

Taken from the book: "Today, Lord, I Will"