While watching the final moments of a football game, one of the commentators said, “This team played with some grit!” Playing with grit means playing with perseverance, courage, resolve, and strength. But that is not what came to mind for me. From the look of the player’s uniforms, “playing with grit” made me think of the small abrasive particles used on sandpaper. Some uniforms were torn, and most were covered with pieces of ground rubber used as part of the field turf.
So, what does this have to do with anything other than my love of college football? Thinking of playing with grit took me back to the years when James was a wee little cub scout. Every winter, we would work together on his pinewood derby car. The process began with a block of wood. A plan was formulated, and a design was chosen.
Start with a block of wood
The plain block of wood was cut into the rough shape of the final design. Then, the sanding process began. Starting with the coarsest sandpaper, rough edges were smoothed. As the process continued, finer-grit sandpaper was used until the surface was as smooth as glass. At this point, several high gloss coats of paint and polyurethane were applied to make the car shine! Over the time he was a cub scout, we had fun taking these blocks of wood and turning them into racing machines!
During these projects, I couldn’t help but draw a parallel between my life and those pinewood derby projects. When I was baptized, I was a block of wood. Some would say a blockhead, but that’s another story! God has a plan for me, but He knows, I’m not a finished product yet, so he started shaping me. At first, large chunks needed to be removed from my behavior. And. big changes needed to be made in my life.
God has a design for us
Some of that carving process was very painful for me to endure. But over time, He had roughly shaped me into something resembling what He wanted. Then the sanding process of life’s experiences began. God is still sanding my soul. I’m hoping the grit on the sandpaper He’s using is getting finer as I get older. Through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, God is smoothing me out. He reminds me to pay attention to my rough spots. Daily repentance is preparing me for a beautiful new coat of paint one day.
Going through God’s sander is not a “comfortable” process. No one ever ran sandpaper across the back of their hand and said, “huh, I didn’t feel that at all?”. Yet, when a rough spot is smoothed, it feels so nice!
Eternal refining
My friends, we are all participating in an eternal refining process. God has a plan and design for each of us. Some of us are rough-cut chunks of wood. Some may have been shaped into something resembling a finished product. And most of us are still being sanded to prepare for new, glorious, immortal coats of high-gloss paint. As Elder Holland taught, “If we persevere, then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete—which is the New Testament meaning of perfection.”
Be patient with those around you. God sees their finished product perfectly, but we may just see a chunk of wood. Endure the grit of refinement and love God for what He is doing for you! Shine brightly!
