The Sacred Sawdust
TWO WORDS I WOULD NOT HAVE ONCE PUT TOGETHER: SACRED AND SAWDUST.
Sacred - Connected with God. Holy. Blessed. Revered.
Sawdust - Powdery particles of wood made by a saw in cutting.
Ohhhhh, I know all about sawdust!
When my husband, Craig, began teaching himself to build furniture after retiring from a 17-year career in football, we had lots of the evidence of his new hobby tracked into our home from the garage. It regularly clung to his clothes. I began to think of it as the bane of our washing machine’s -- and our vacuum cleaner’s -- existence. Ughhhh! Sweep up the mess and throw it away, before it gets in the house!
Recently, I was thinking about those pesky powder shavings. A reminder of a powerful statement I heard about sawdust many years ago (pre-Craig) that a friend told me floated into my mind. I had been lamenting to this friend about a season of “wasted time” on (yet another) broken dating relationship, and my friend replied with this comment:
“With God, nothing is ever wasted. He even uses the sawdust to build new things.”
That statement really hit me – or should I say “stuck with me” (ummmm…kinda like that clothes-clinging sawdust)!?! I decided that instead of living in regret about what was lost and “wasted,” I would begin praying that God would bring into my life the one that HE has chosen for me to spend my life with. From that day on, my daily prayer became something like this:
“OK God, I’m surrendering this to YOU because clearly, my ‘picker’ is broken! I’m ready for YOU to pick the man who is the right one for me!”
When we think WE know what’s best for ourselves (or in this case, WHO) and act accordingly, there’s a good chance of ending up surrounded by sawdust. Wondering how our best intentions, and even hard work and dedication, got us into this mess of vacuuming up the aftermath of broken heart remnants. Or… at the very least… sweeping the sawdust of our mistakes - failures - regrets under the rug as we try to move on. (Side note: That rug thing never clears the way for true happiness).
So, how do we give our sawdust to God? Answer:
When we give our entitlement – our “builder’s permit” – to the One who built us*, we’re making the choice that will truly satisfy. (Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. – Matthew 5:6)
Oh, how RIGHT my friend was about the sawdust!
God makes miracles out of our messes. Not only did He use the sawdust of what had been “cut” from my past to lead me to HIS best choice for my future husband, He also gave Craig a passion for learning how to do -- of all things -- woodworking!
Imagine that. The One who came to earth as a carpenter gave the man He chose to be my husband… a passion for learning carpentry.
And that’s not all. Craig’s acting on that passion ultimately turned into a fun adventure and business we created together. Guess what that business was “built” on? Not just being a carpenter, but also being a ‘picker.’ :-)
Whaaaat?!! Not kidding. (Read my blog “From Kicker to Picker”). When I gave my ‘broken picker’ to God, He brought me a better one. The BEST one, picked just for me!
Now, my daily prayer goes something like this:
“Thank you Lord, for what You’ve done with my sawdust. When I scooped it all into Your hands, you made something new. Beautifully customized just for me… and built to last!”
THAT’S how sawdust becomes sacred.
reSOURCEs:
*This reminds me of an amazing song I wish I’d written! “The House that Built Me” (written by Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin), recorded by Miranda Lambert