Undone

I sanded a. single. door. yesterday for two and a half hours straight. & like the most unchristian thing that I could do on a mission trip to spread Christ, I kinda pitched a fit about it (don’t worry I asked the Lord to forgive me already). I was running out of sandpaper and was literally using like half-a-square-inch pieces to sand the door, so you can probably imagine that I was accomplishing just about nothing. I was beyond frustrated (almost to the point of tears) and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t able to go ahead and stain the wood without spending hours trying to get rid of something that was so stubborn and didn’t want to come off. I was sure that it would’ve been a much more effective use of my time to just stain the door and then move right on along to the next. Plus, if I’m being honest, it was a struggle for me to even see how this annoying project was beneficial in the first place. Definitely not one of my proudest ministry days. 

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I was quickly reminded that ministry and missions and serving is not something that I have to do, but rather something that I GET to partner with the Lord in, and that’s the greatest honor ever!!! It makes no sense for me to dread even the tough stuff when it’s the Lord of the hEcking universe who is inviting me into it alongside Him. 

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Needless to say, after God spoke to my spirit last night about what a privilege it is to be a partner & coheir of the only Kingdom where the least become the greatest and the highest take the lowliest places, I went into ministry today with a different (& much better) outlook on the why behind all of my doings. 

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I thought that my lesson to be learned from the frustrating door situation was to remember that it’s a blessing to be able to serve, not a burden, but the Lord has a sense of humor and lately has found great pleasure in making me laugh. So today, I find myself painting for ministry. Sounds less frustrating than that dreaded door, right? Well ya see lol, the catch was that I was going to have to scrape all of the old paint off of the ceiling before I was able to put a brush to it. Literally the same scenario as the door. I had to undo something that’d been stuck for quite sometime before I could make it like new by putting a few fresh coats of paint. 

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Being that I walked into the situation with a much more godly perspective this time, my spirit was opened up to be able to receive the most beautiful revelation from the Lord in the midst of all of the scraping that was taking place, plus I found myself having a BLAST and not the least bit annoyed with my situation. 

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He spoke to me as I was standing on a wobbly ladder breaking my neck as I’m looking and reaching up to the ceiling getting rid of all the old junk and told me just how necessary the process of the undoing is. Though it is messy and annoying and dang frustrating and often takes quite a while, it is also when He is able to make us new. He cleans the old junk out of our lives, the stubborn things that have been stuck like glue for as long as we can remember. We may feel barren or uncomfortable for a season, but it is so so so worth it to let Him wash us clean and wait for Him to clothe us with something so beautiful and unfathomable that could never be the result of simply staining without sanding, or covering the worn spots of the ceiling by panting only patchwork. 

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Let’s allow Him to strip us. Let’s learn to love the tedious process. Let’s say YES & AMEN through it all. & Let us give Him permission to turn us into something so refreshingly new for the sake of His glory.  

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(P.S. If you don’t believe that the Lord has a sense of humor, believe me when I say that the minute I finished stripping and painting today, I was led to another door and a piece of sandpaper was placed in my hand. hahah. Thanks for laughing with me yet teaching me your heart all the while, God.)

 

<3 Meg