If you haven't read this oldie but goodie, I highly recommend you pick it up; it's a wonderful allegory for the Christian journey each of us must take in order to see Glory. I'm about halfway through my read and came upon a reference to Isaiah 28:27-29, which says:
27 Caraway is not threshed with a sledge,
nor is a cartwheel rolled over cummin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,
and cummin with a stick.
28 Grain must be ground to make bread;
so one does not go on threshing it forever.
Though he drives the wheels of his threshing cart over it,
his horses do not grind it.
29 All this also comes from the LORD Almighty,
wonderful in counsel and magnificent in wisdom. (NIV)
-Every grain is uniquely ground to suit it's kind
-It is not ground forever, but just until it is the consistency of the grinder's purpose
-All this is from an all-powerful, mighty God, who intended it this way
In my application to my life, I thought about how uniquely we are made in God's eyes. Each one of us with different strengths, weaknesses, and needs. God takes us to the threshing floor, he grinds us, refines us, and makes us just the right consistency so that we may glorify Him and function as God intended for each one of us.
The main character, Much-Afraid, witnesses this process happening with the grain and then steps outside with the realization that when we go through trials, roadblocks in the way of getting to our goal, the delay is not unto death, but for the ultimate glory of God.
So we must live. Striving always to have acceptance with joy in the midst of being threshed, ground, and refined.
