“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”

1 John 3:2

As I shared yesterday to start my sermon, Martin Luther King Jr. was in London in 1964. He was preaching, and he concluded his sermon with words that he would repeat many times through the rest of his life. It was a thought from an old slave preacher, as recounted by Dr. Leonard Sweet recently.

“Lord, we ain’t what we want to be. We ain’t what we ought to be. We ain’t what we gonna be. But thank God, we ain’t what we was.”

Read those words again. Ponder how these words have been true in your life. In the life of your family. In the life of your community.

It has often been said that Jesus loves you enough that there is nothing you could ever do that would create a barrier so tall and so thick that could keep Him from coming to you. Jesus loves you just the way you are… and He loves you enough to not let you stay the way you are. You, my dear friend, are a work in progress.

My favorite class in high school was wood shop. Mr. Rouff was an amazing teacher, mentor, and skilled craftsman. I loved the process of drawing something up on paper and then using materials and tools to make it come to life. In my later years, I’ve come to realize I like the idea of being a woodworker more than the actual task of being a woodworker—but I still have fond memories in Mr. Rouff’s shop.

I made a wooden popcorn bowl for one project. My family loved popcorn, so it was a giant bowl. Each class period was only 50 minutes, so progress was slow. Painfully slow. It took me a week to make the plans and another week to mark the boards. I still remember pushing the oak wood through the table saw—13 pieces that I cut at an angle, glued together, and attached to a lathe to slowly make it round. Day by day, I would slowly turn the lathe and chip away at the rough wood to make a smooth, round bowl. It was so satisfying. And slow.

Once I got the outside where I wanted it, I moved to the interior of the bowl to do the same. With my tool guard tilted into the opening, I would use my chisel to cut into the wood. Rotation by rotation, it began to take the right shape until I finally got it where I wanted it. The walls were uniform and the right thickness. I thought I was done.

Turns out I had to sand that bowl for two weeks straight. I had a few tool marks that I needed to get out, and Mr. Rouff told me that sanding was the best way forward. Who was I to argue with the master?

I worked on that bowl for months. And it sat in my mom’s kitchen for decades until the wood finally cracked. But it served a lot of popcorn during those years—a lot of popcorn!

Truth be told, even though I loved wood shop class, I got tired of making that bowl. I love the lathe; it was my favorite machine in the shop. But it got tedious. Early on, I could see the headway I was making. But the tasks got more difficult. I had to be more precise. And when it came to sanding, the difference I was making was minuscule.

“Lord, we ain’t what we want to be. We ain’t what we ought to be. We ain’t what we gonna be. But Thank God, we ain’t what we was…”

By the grace of God, you are His handiwork. So often, people look for the quick fixes and the complete overhauls in life. Progress is slow. Human transformation is painfully slow. This is true for our own improvement and growth. And as MLK expressed, in the collective progress of humanity. Look how far we have come is both an expression of celebration and despair—and both are true. We have come so far. And we have so much further to go.

God is not done working on you. You are a project in the hands of the Master. And even though I got tired of sanding off the material layer by thin layer, it seems this is God’s favorite way to shape us—slowly. But don’t give up. Keep leaning in. He is making something beautiful! And useful—the Lord will use you for His purpose. And the Lord is working on us as well.

What is a specific area where MLK’s words have been true in your life?