One of the many gifts my mom bought our boys years ago for Christmas was a rock tumbler.  It wasn’t until spring break that I had time to read the directions and use it.  Excitedly, we put the small pieces of rock in the tumbler with grit and a bit of water.  I plugged it in and away it went.  As the pieces tumbled in the container, they made a lot of noise causing me to move the rock tumbler into the basement. Later that day, we visited my mom, and I asked how long it would take for the dull, sharp rocks to be transformed into smooth, shiny stones.  She said that it would take weeks.  Hearing that statement, the boys and I were so disappointed.  Understandably, we wanted to see the finished product right away.  Each day during their break, we plugged the rock tumbler in, and each night we checked to see it there was any improvement.  The process was so slow, but over time we began to see a slight improvement. Hard, sharp edges finally began to round. Isn’t that just like the Christian life? Hard times, discouragements, broken dreams, and trials jostle us about at times shaking us to the core. However, our ways are not the God’s ways. He uses these difficulties to soften our hearts and polish our character.

Lord, may the situations and circumstances of our lives create in us soft hearts desiring to become more like You and Your character. Amen.