The week was tough, and the night found me clinging to a big ottoman in my living room floor, sobbing.
I was having one of those days where the past rears its ugly head and reminds you how thin the time is between yesterday and today. Bronchitis, a sinus infection, a new career. Stress about finances and friends not showing up when you need them. Not being the father I strive to be and having a hard time comparing myself to the Father I have in Jesus. I was breaking down.
I felt God’s Almighty hands twist and ring me to the point of damp dry. I pictured Him molding the clay with more pressure than I have ever felt. I saw broken shards of glass splinter in new formation. That’s when I understood. With a new dimension of the refiner’s fire and more water smoothing the rough stones, I was being pressed on every side. Almost breaking.
God knows my shatter point, and He takes me to the exact degree before I break. The place where I become something new. And He specializes in all things new.
God uses our rough times to sharpen us, define us, and make us who He longs for us to be. Only a Master’s hands know my breaking point and understand where my submission is imminent. Through my re-Creator’s expertise, I become a new creation.
And when God has reworked me for a time, thanksgiving rolls over me like the warm winds of a summer storm right before the rain. He washes over me, and I hear His whispers. “This is what I have been working on. If you want to dream new dreams and fly to heights, you must let Me turn that coal into a diamond.”
I’m stronger now—better than I was. The wounds miraculously healed, but God had to knead the dough. He had to take me to the point right before I gave up. He took me to the place where I gave in. But further down the road. Closer to the prize. I arose from my sobbing, prostrate position and breathed fresh air.
God knows the road He asks us to walk. He never promised it would be easy, but He promised He would always be there. And He is. Again and again. Welcome His artistry.
Let God make you new.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Cecil Stokes founded Tentmakers Entertainment in 1999. He is an Executive Producer/Writer/Producer/Director. He has worked on over 500 cable television shows for networks such as A&E, Court TV, DIY, ESPN, Food Network, HGTV, History Channel, and Turner. For his television programming, he won multiple awards including the New York Film Festival, the Communicator Award, dozens of Tellys, and an Emmy. Cecil’s award-winning documentaries include “A Man Named Pearl” and “Children of all Ages.” Cecil also co-created and produced the feature film “October Baby.” Most recently, he has written, produced, and directed over 100 branded entertainment projects for the Scripps Networks (HGTV, DIY, Food Network, Cooking Channel, Fine Living & GAC).
In 2015, Cecil adopted his son Boone from foster care at the age of eight. He has learned first-hand the beautiful and the brutal of raising a son from foster care. Though he had traversed 13 countries and 46 states, walked the Red Carpet, and lived what felt like a dream life, Cecil says his life did not begin until the day he became a father. With new awareness of the great need we have for the adoption of legally free foster children, Cecil now campaigns for Christians to step forward and become the forever families Christ’s children deserve.