Drastic Cuts

I've been setting a lot of goals for myself and today I'm a total failure. I told my husband I was discouraged. When he asked why and I told him, he said, "Why don't you ask God what His goals for you might be?" Yeah. 😒

So I've been trying to pull myself out of my funk by listening to a sermon. The pastor used a story that stuck out to me. 

A guy hires an arborist to come trim a tree in his front yard. The arborist says, "Before I start, what do you want? Do you want a tree that looks good or a tree that bears fruit? If you just want it to look good I will round it off and just trim a little. If you want it to have fruit I will need to make more drastic cuts." 

I usually have an idea of how I want Christ to be formed in me. Maybe an Instagram type journey, filled with strengths and creativity. Instead I get to be a mom of three growing kids, on a farm in a fixer upper house. Dirt, poop and back talk. Drastic cuts. 

The Holy Spirit is full of hope. He pulls me along and let's me see peeks of what He's doing. And it's like nothing I ever planned. Christ in me, the hope of glory. 

CS Lewis describes this really well; 

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.