Adversity

"..the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground..."

I've been musing on biblical anthropology of late because of my interest in Eastern Orthodoxy (all varieties). This passage caught my attention this week. 

Most of the time my mind runs to the Ex Nihlo creation (out of nothing). In other words, the power of God's mind, coupled with his word and will brought into existence everything that exists. But with man he chooses a different method. He takes the dirt that he has created, holy and good, and the text tells us that he formed a man. 

I never really pondered the care with which God chose to bring humanity into this world. He could have spoken him into existence like the heavens but he chose to use something more personal. In fact, all breathing things were formed out of the ground (Gen. 2:19) with the exception of woman. 

The word "formed" in this text is the word used of a potter or a

wood carver. I can't help but think of Michelangelo and the statue of David. One day someone asked him how he took a block of marble and produce something so wonderful. He said, "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

The last two weeks I have had some unusual adversity in my life, much of it self-imposed. We bought a home in Newberg and I had the bright idea of taking out all of the upstairs carpet and replacing it with high end lament flooring that looks almost indestinguishable from wood. 

I tore through the carpet and padding like a ferocious 20 year old. The next day I felt like a sore 40 year old but determined. A week on my knees and not only did I confess that I was 50 but felt more like 80. I am now heavily invested in muscle creams and am searching for a heating pad that will give me second degree burns. 

The floor went down pretty easily but the molding...I know that there is a statue in here and God is chipping away. It hurts. It tests my resolve. It tests my humility. It exposes my pride. It manifests my love. It displays my weaknesses. It went to the core of my deepest fear - not knowing how to do something - feeling stupid. 

The Lord brought me back to my seventh grade geometry class. I am so sorry Mrs. Dunkel for not paying attention in class. I am haunted by the phrase, "I'll never use this stuff." Even then I was more concerned about angels than angles. 

If I am truly made in the image of God, then perhaps I should consider these times of adversity to be the potter pressing in to my life. His hands are divinely reshaping me into a more accurate picture of who he is and what he wants me to be. 

I wonder if it will ever get easier to be thankful and hurt at the same time?