Sandpaper

A nice desk recently came into my possession which I have been refinishing. Since I've never done this kind of work, I asked several people for advice on how to do it...and watched a few YouTube videos as well. There seems to be about as many ways to refinish a piece of furniture as there are people who do it!

Nevertheless, I’m learning by experience. It’s by no means a perfect job, but it’s coming along. When I bought this desk (only $45!), it was a real mess. I knew that it was well-made just from the weight of it (it was a beast to move!), but the top had all kinds of splotches and imperfections. One section of the top had candlewax on it, and it had several places with water damage. But the wood was in fine shape.

The top before I sanded it...

I went to work on it last week, hand-sanding the top and some parts of the exterior of the desk. I wasn’t trying to remove all the finish...except for the top, the exterior was pretty good...but much of it had to go. I actually had to start with a knife...which I used to scrape the candlewax off. Upon the advice I was given, I started with 100-grit sandpaper (pretty rough stuff) and then went to 150-grit (not as rough but still pretty gritty). After I sanded down the top, I wiped it down, applied stain and let it dry. I went back later and resanded with 400-grit sandpaper (fo
more delicate sanding), finally putting a polyurethane gloss on. Even after that, I wasn’t satisfied, but used the 400-grit paper again, lightly sanding and reapplying the gloss. It’s far from a perfect job, and I’m sure a professional could see right away that it is the job of an amateur, but I’m pretty happy with it.

This whole little project made me think of the discipline of the Lord. I’m sure if my desk had a will of it’s own, it would have rather me not sanded it at all...and would definitely have cried out, “Don’t scrape me with a knife! Just leave me be!” It might have said something like, “Just put a little gloss on me...don’t worry about the sandpaper!”

We don’t like sandpaper…

After sanding and apply polyurethane

As Christians, we rejoice in the fact that “we are bought with a price.” We know that we “were not redeemed with perishable things like silver and gold...but with precious blood...the blood of Christ.” (I Peter 1:18, 19). We like the fact that we are bound for heaven because he paid for our sins with His own precious blood...but we’d rather not think about the fact that we are redeemed to serve Him and glorify Him. We are redeemed to become disciples...and disciples have to be disciplined. When we come to Christ, we are pretty rough stuff...much rougher than the desk I acquired. He simply is not going to use us much in His kingdom until we’ve been sanded down...made fit for the master’s use.

But...we don’t like sandpaper…

The writer of Hebrews quotes from Proverbs when he states…

“...My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
Nor faint when you are reproved by Him;
For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
And He scourges every son whom He receives.” (Hebrews 12:5b, 6)

He goes on to say, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?” (NIV) (Unfortunately, this could not be written this way in our day. Very few children are disciplined appropriately by their fathers in our age). So he is saying, when hardship comes our way, respond to it as a blessing from God. Instead of fearing these times, we should rejoice in hardship and trials!

This brings to mind the words of James:

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

I can hear someone saying about now...”Consider it all joy? Really?”

• “When my child becomes sick with a terminal illness?”
• “When my spouse leaves me?”
• “When I lose my job?”
• “When my health is taken from me?”

“How am I to rejoice in these circumstances?”

There is only one way really. We have to believe...we have to know...really KNOW...that God ALWAYS disciplines us for our good. He never causes or allows trials to happen to His redeemed children that He doesn’t have a greater purpose in mind…

“...the testing of your faith produces endurance...” What does he mean by that?

The Greek word translated “endurance” (in some versions it is translated “patience” or “steadfastness”) literally means “abiding under.” Strong’s definition is “cheerful (or hopeful) endurance; constancy.” Thayer’s has the definition “a patient, steadfast waiting for.” And also this…

“In the NT the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings.”

When I read this, I picture an endurance runner. No one starts out one day to run a marathon with no preparation. You have to train for it...often for months. Like a runner building up stamina to run a long race, the way you get this kind of faith (“that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”) is through trials...through difficulties…

Sandpaper…

There is one big difference between the process of sanding my desk and what we are called to go through as Christians. The difference is this: my desk has no will of its own...so it had no power to resist the sandpaper…but we do.

If we resist Him, we will never receive the benefit of the trial. If, instead of "considering it all joy”, we complain and grumble (my Facebook feed is sometimes full of grumbling and complaining people who have to describe their latest trial in vivid detail!), we halt what God is trying to do in our lives. A good Old Testament illustration is found in Exodus, wherethe Israelites, after being redeemed from Egypt, have to wander in the wilderness for a period of time. Repeatedly, God tests them with various trials and...repeatedly...they grumble and complain. One time they have no food for a short time, another time they have no water, another time they find water but it is bitter. In each case, their reaction is the same. They grumble to Moses and to God. (You can read about this in Exodus 15:22 – 17:7) When I looked at the Hebrew meaning of the word which is translated “to grumble” or “to murmur”, I found something very interesting. It literally means “to stop.” It was used by those traveling on a journey who stopped at an inn or elsewhere to take rest. This really spoke to me. When we murmur or complain at our difficult situations, all spiritual growth is stopped cold. Complaining stops growth. Think about that the next time you are tempted to grumble about your lot in life! I do!

While I was writing this, I got a call from one of our church members named Bec. We have a church prayer chain, and she asked me to put her little two-year-old grandson on this line, which I was glad to do. (We don’t think it’s serious, but he has a swollen thumb and a fever and is going to see a doctor this morning.) After she shared the prayer request with me, she shared this with me: “You know, something like this used to floor me. Even a little thing would knock me flat. But, since I’ve been in the word and in prayer every day, they don’t get to me nearly like they used to. When I concentrate on Him, He helps me with my emotions!” Praise God! This is exactly what this article is about. When we see these things as coming from the hand of a loving God, one who even sent His only Son to die for us, and who would never do anything harmful to us, we build up “spiritual stamina”, as Bec has surely done. We see the sandpaper in our lives as just preparation for the gloss that is surely to come. If it never comes in this life, it will surely come in the life to come.

All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11)

I must add one more thing here. Ultimately, “the peaceful fruit of righteousness”, “the gloss” if you will, is not even for ourselves. It is for His kingdom...for His glory. When we receive comfort and strength after suffering trials, we can use that comfort and strength to minister to others who are going through trials (that’s the real gloss!) And, in the end, Our glorification (which in it’s fullness will only be when we reach our heavenly home) is merely a reflection of His glory. When we get to the place where we see IT IS ALL FOR HIS GLORY, we’ve come to a good place.

So...when we encounter various trials...the sandpaper of this life...let’s learn to embrace them. It is ALWAYS for our good, NEVER for our destruction, and ULTIMATELY for the glory of His kingdom.

So...Bring on the sandpaper!

Want to read more?  Here are a few more of my recent posts to this site...

A Voice In The Wilderness
I Went To A Town Hall Meeting...And God Showed Up!
The Question That Led To The Prayer...My Day At The Indiana Statehouse