Work in Progress

Well, this picture of my workbench tells a tale, doesn’t it? Looking at this mess, can you figure out what (if anything) is being made here? But there is a process going on, and in my mind there is an outcome; a finished product that will result. Until then, what’s on the bench is a work in progress, the objective of which is not evident to the observer..

I have two woodworking books filled with “easy to make” projects for around the house. My minimal skills limit the choices even in these simple books, but they do provide templates for a few things I might like to build.

Both books have a pattern for a wooden basket to use in the garden to carry produce or tools. I liked the design of one, but it was too small, while the other, though larger, was too heavy. So, my mind, I conceived a basket that incorporates the better features of both. “In my mind.” In an older post I once shared how I never work from plans, I simply get an idea and build it as I go, while trying to use only boards and scraps that I have on hand. This results in many revisions and do overs, and the finished product, though often useful, is … well, unconventional is a kindly way to put it.

There is a truth about life that is similar: every human is a work in progress. We may see another person and think, “Where is that one going to end up?” We might observe someone we know and have ideas about where they are headed, or we might conclude that there is no apparent destination for that one. For the Christian, however, there is great comfort in knowing that there is plan for what we shall be, and that that plan is being carried out despite any apparent lack of progress in the moment. God has a plan, in His mind, of what you will be. That plan goes back to the beginning of time, before you were born, and it will come to completion in God’s own time.

At times, my life has been messier than my work bench; there was no evidence that anything good or useful would emerge out of the seeming disorder. Yet God has a plan, in His mind, for what I will be. By now, some of it may be evident, but until He calls me home, I am a work in progress.

Ephesians 1:3-6 (ESV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

12 thoughts on “Work in Progress”

  4. Thanks for yet another great analogy of spiritual truth! Romans 12:1-2 has become my life verse(s) and provides essentially the same truths you mention in your quoted text: It’s up to us to offer ourselves unreservedly for His service (a living sacrifice), and then He will reveal to us that perfect plan He has–in His mind–for us. (And it’s always better than whatever our minds can come us with!) Your workbench looks a lot like my desk! There IS a method and manner to the madness! A work is in progress! (I also note the two handyman’s essentials–two cans of WD40, one within easy reach of either hand, and tape. I think that’s some kind of tape in the upper righthand corner. At my house, it would be duct tape. If it should move but doesn’t, WD40. If it moves but shouldn’t, duct tape!)

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    • Oh yes, there’s duct tape within easy reach-I think it’s the Gorilla brand. In my garage, I have a half gallon( !) of WD-40 and a refillable spray bottle. Nothings gonna seize up in my house!
      Thanks for your comment.

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