03/10/2025
Are you suffering today? Is your life full of hardship that has brought you to your knees... not in the abandonment of life and faith, but in a desperate need to submit yourself to God? If so, then you have been brought to the right place and frame of mind. In this state your soul will call out to God and your humanity will not get in the way of the Holy Spirit’s work in you.
“The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.”
Psalms 9:9 KJV
I once watched a show on how to fold paper. It was demonstrating the 6th century Japanese art called origami. Quite often God takes our lives and folds them into a shape that He finds useful and beautiful, but occasionally we see our unfinished lives as ugly and useless... we see them this way because we don't have the foresight to see them as He does, or understand the purpose that lies ahead for us once we have been completed.
Then there is kirigami in which paper is folded and pieces cut away to form a shape (such as a snowflake). The technique employed in this artform is different, but the beauty of the finished product is equally evident and is often a surprise when unfolded. So, whether we are being reshaped, or pieces are being removed to reveal the beauty hidden within us, once complete we will have become a marvelous work of faith. Pastor Oswald Chambers conveyed this truth in a marvelous way when he wrote these words…
"The natural heart will do any amount of serving, but it takes the heart broken by conviction of sin, and baptized by the Holy Ghost, and crumpled into the purpose of God before the life becomes the sacrament of its message." - Oswald Chambers
Oswald Chambers probably wasn't envisioning origami, or kirigami, when He penned these words, but the analogy remains valid. He sees our suffering as changing us into the incarnation of the Gospel Message. And it is true that as we are becoming more like Jesus it might be necessary for us to suffer while being transformed into instruments of His will just as Jesus suffered. Chambers says this specifically in this way…
"God takes us out of our own ideas for our lives and we are "batter'd to shape and use," as the disciples were after Pentecost. Pentecost did not teach the disciples anything; it made them the incarnation of what they preached - "Ye shall be witnesses unto me." - Oswald Chambers
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:8 ESV
In preparation for use in God's plan we must be brought under subjugation and our old selves reworked for the glory of God. How can we tell the story of Jesus without speaking empathetically of suffering? How can we speak of life without understanding death? How can we reveal forgiveness without ever having experienced the need to be forgiven?
“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
2 Timothy 4:2 KJV
So it is that we suffer, we forgive, we die, and we stand before God to live again through Jesus. Our lives are full of the images of Christ's life... not all of them pleasant as we experience our transformation; yet every fold or cut moves us closer to the completed shape which is the risen Christ. Can you see the changes in your hunger? Your thirst? Your suffering? Your persecution? Your losses? Sometimes we are just standing too close and the pain is too intense for us to realize the magnificent form we are beginning to take on.
While we are being shaped, we need to be careful not to take ourselves from the potter's hand prematurely, before He is finished with us. We need to understand that as we are attempting to preach the gospel to those around us that like them, we too are still being transformed by the hand of God. He is not completely done with us yet. Despite how perfect we think we are, we are no less a sinner than those to whom we witness... the paper which makes up each of our lives remains in the hand of the Lord until He chooses to set us down and say "It is very good."
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”
Genesis 1:28,31 ESV
In these verses we read how were created, and in 1 Corinthians the Apostle Paul wrote about how we must mind our faith and belief while we are being further shaped and transformed.
“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
1 Corinthians 9:27 KJV
Are we appropriately fearful of becoming castaways as God works in our lives? As we are being folded and cut by the His hand are we remaining steadfast in our faith as we occasionally face suffering?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for shaping me, in my life and faith, into a more perfect image of your Son Jesus Christ. I am but a crumpled piece of paper in your hand, and at times the suffering I experience there is almost too great for me to bear. Lift me from my suffering Lord and, with a simple fold, move me past this tribulation; bring me closer to the shape of Christ and reveal more of Him in me each day. Lord God, Abba, let your hand hold me until at long last you can set me before you and see me as beautiful and good... made lovingly in your image.
Holy Father, I realize that I will suffer and face many trials in my life, and I ask that you give me the strength to endure them, and the faith to understand that you will not abandon me in the midst of them or ask me to endure more than I am capable of. Shape me to your liking Father and take pleasure in me your handiwork. And for my part I will love and seek you always, and with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Hear this my prayer, which I pray in the name of Jesus, and see that it is deeply rooted in my heart as you look upon me… the man you have made, the masterpiece you have shaped me into, and the image of Adam and your Son Jesus Christ. Thus perfected by your hand and grace I will praise you and worship you for all eternity, and breathe in and out your name in song, poetry, and flowing prose with all the heavenly host forevermore. To this I say Hallelujah, and Amen! Amen! Amen!
Rich Forbes