It hurts, God. Please make it stop.
“It hurts, God. Please make it stop.” Have you said those words? I know I have. If you have been thinking through theological matters for very long at all, you have probably considered the metaphor that God is chiseling away at you, an ordinary stone, until you become the work of art he sees in you. We tend not to like this metaphor. Being chiseled is an act of pain, and we do NOT like pain! I came across a poem in the devotional book StreamsIn The Desert, on the day of September 1 . This poem is a request to God for him to not stop chiseling, but to finish his work. In the still air the music lies unheard; In the rough marble beauty hides unseen; To make the music and the beauty needs The master's touch, the sculptor's chisel keen. Great Master, touch us with Your skillful hands; Let not the music that is in us die! Great Sculptor, hew and polish us; nor let, Hidden and lost, Your form within us lie! I want to have sufficient faith to be th