Mudding

I like mudding. It's fun to cover up the flaws, to get the wall as even as possible. It's really something to see how a bit of sanding after the mud dries leaves a perfectly flat surface that is ready to be painted.

I mudded my husband's new closet today. My shoulder hurts, my neck hurts, and I am stiff and sore all over. But the closet is nearly done. I can't wait to get it finished, because it will be beautiful and practical.

As I worked away this afternoon, I thought about the spiritual lessons I could learn from this job. It took a lot more mud than I anticipated, because there were a lot of flaws. God applies lots of mud to our flaws, too, and it takes a lot more work than we think it will at the beginning of the journey. God, the Master Mudder, patiently works away, applying mud (in the form of correction, using His Word, or preaching, or rebuke from a faithful friend) then sanding away the excess (He hedges us in behind and before; He orders our steps; He removes those things in our lives that are distracting us from the goal of being more and more like Christ). He doesn't give up until He is satisfied with the result - Sanctification, Christlikeness, Holiness, Purity.

When I finish the prep work and paint the closet, I will still know that there are holes and gaps and curves where the wall should be straight. I will know that the holes and gaps are simply covered over. But I will choose to see the beautiful walls and will choose to use the closet for the purpose for which it was designed.

God looks at His children and knows their frame. He sees their flaws. But He chooses to view them through the blood of Jesus Christ, which washes them white as snow. He chooses to remove their sins as far as the east is from the west, and He covers over their sins. He chooses to use us to accomplish His purposes! We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.