Cheese Grater Tester

Good morning on this sunny day. Last night, I had a vision of a cheese grater tester with bloody fingers. If you have ever grated a bit too much cheese or had the chunk break up on you during the operation, you know what I mean by bloody fingers. A cheese grater can cause some hurting in yer little fingers! The job of this tester was to come up with ideas for making cheese graters safer. However, he felt the frustration of having a materials similar to each other - that is the cheese and the fleshy part of his fingers. God heard his cry for mercy and told him to put on the glove of Jesus to protect his flesh in place of worrying about designing a new cheese grater. Eureka! The tester could grate without fear right down to the last bit of cheese because his fingers were now protected. There is something in this for us as believers in Christ.

We are going to ride the ragged edge of disaster in our tribulations. We don't want to do this, and we do our best to avoid doing this, but we don't control very much in this life. We pray, we listen to God, we obey and we trust in God, but still, here comes that ragged edge. God is going to put us in the flame again, but we have our protection. Unless of course, we try to take care of the problem in the strength we feel, the abilities we trust, and the talent we think we know without consulting with God, saying even one little prayer requesting assistance, or above all asking God to show us the way. We don't do that, do we? Am I like the cheese grater tester with bloodied fingers, crying out to God over the unfairness of it all?

I have done it before. Perhaps, I have made a habit of it in my life, asking God for resources, but also wanting control. I think that in some trials, God will let me beat my head against walls until my heart softens a bit. (My head was already soft, no need to worry over that!) After the heart stone that is getting in the way of His providence is crushed, then God can work with me again. I don't like the two-steps forward, one-step back of this process. I want to be like Jesus right now! No more trials or dark valleys, just the green pastures, please. However, Jesus came down from Heaven; I started right here in the sin of this earth. God will make us like His Son, but none of us are His Son. We needed Jesus to take the penalty of our sin away first, then the Holy Spirit can come into our hearts to start the work He will complete in us.

Enduring the trial is never fun, but we have a great assurance in Jesus,
Bucky