February 17th
Life's Tumble Machine
A while back my wife, Nancy, and I went through a small box that had been sealed since a trip to the beach the year before. While the children were growing up we looked forward every year to a trip to the ocean and stay in a small town, Cayucos, Calif. We would rent a beach house for a week or so and would really enjoy the time. One of the things we always did was to look for color glass deposited on the beach.
We opened the box and it contained some beautiful polished glass of various colors. I have always been impressed by the glass that has been polished over the years. For some of you who are not "with me" in this illustration, let me explain. When one throws a bottle overboard it naturally sinks to the bottom. In time it gets broken by the rough waters created by storms. As it rolls back and forth in time it breaks up more...and by rolling back and forth on the ocean's bottom over years they are finally deposited on the shore.
One asked, "What makes the glass so beautiful?" Well the answer, of course, is the abrassives of the sand, rocks...in other words, the constant tumbling.
So, my friend in your life there has been and no doubt is, certainly will be abrasives. These abrasives come through people and things and circumstances. They have a way of transforming people, believe it or not.
Pain, suffering, various hardships are not really asked for, nor wanted, but they are a part of life. You may be passing through "life's refining tumbler" now. Remember even in it, "God is our refuge, a very present help in trouble." (Psa. 9:9)
My Prayer for You
Lord, I ask that this one truly know your presence in perhaps a most difficult time. May they have faith further to know that when such passes, they will come forth beautiful, just as the polished glass tossed upon the shore. Through it all, through it all, may they learn to trust you.
In Jesus'name
Amen