Just a nail

A meditation by David McFarland

I am a nail.

I am being pounded down by the relentless hammer of circumstance.

I cannot escape the grip of the carpenter.

Each blow drives me lower.

The pain!

The pressure!

The noise!

If this does not stop, I will be driven out of sight.

But then I am reminded that I was made to be nothing more than a nail for the carpenter’s glory:

made to be held and hammered;

made for constructing;

made to be hidden.

When I am out of sight the Carpenter gets the praise, not the nail; not me.

By myself I can make nothing – no beautiful object; no useful product. I need the hammer. By hammering me, He works His purpose for me and chooses me to bring glory to Him.

God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:10,11