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See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together in unity! Psalms 133:1 WEB

Wood, I grew up around it. Often I was carrying it, sawing it, nailing it or pulling the splinters from my hands. My dad was a carpenter for fifty-five years, so I grew up with woodworking and I have always enjoyed building things. I find that is a valuable skill in our everyday life and am thankful for those years that I spent working with him.

He always started the project by picking the right lumber. Dad would go through the whole pile to find one piece that was straight. Then he would take that piece and cut it to the perfect size, fit it into place, nail it down and then smooth the rough edges out with sandpaper. The end result would be beautiful.

The Lord Jesus uses a lot of these same skills that He learned on us. His dad Joseph was a carpenter as well. God will search through thousands of people until He finds the right one. Then He will draw you to Himself (John 6:44), cut away your past baggage (2 Cor. 5:17), fit you into your place in the body (Col. 3:15), nail you to your own cross (Gal. 5:24), and then He breaks out the sandpaper. The first part of being drawn to Him is pleasant, much of the rest is not, especially the cutting, nailing and the sanding.

To accomplish this, He will often place people into our lives that we need to help shape and smooth us. We hate those irritating people and would like to avoid the friction and scraping, but we also cannot see our own rough edges on our own. It is natural to want to separate from the friction but if you do you will retain the roughness that God is trying to smooth out, and He will bring coarser sandpaper next time. You can and will get through this, and when He is done you are going to be one smooth work of art, hand crafted by the Master Carpenter.

Prayer: Father I pray that You give me the grace to endure the things that I face. Help me love those around me and be nice. Set a guard over my mouth and help me reflect You in a positive light, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.