Be Shaped :: The Creator :: He Crafts

Do you remember turkey hand plate stick thingies? I’m not sure what else to call them. I’m talking about craft projects you did as a little kid. You trace your hand with a crayon onto a paper plate, color it, cut it out with scissors (with rounded tips instead of pointy tips) and then glue a popsicle stick to the back of the plate. Walla! You’ve got something that vaguely resembles a turkey. I’m open to suggestions for calling it something else, but for now I’ll roll with turkey hand plate stick thingy.

This was a common kiddie craft project around Thanksgiving. Some kids weren’t into it, but some were. Perhaps it dawned on them for the very first time that a turkey was hidden in the shape of their hand. Perhaps it was the opportunity to use crayons from a big box they didn’t have at home. Perhaps it was simply a craft project and that alone was reason enough to get excited.

That boy going through the motions? He was likely to forget his turkey hand plate stick thingy as soon as the bell rung. The precocious little red-haired girl who poured herself into her art? Her turkey hand plate stick thingy was a work of genius destined to be featured prominently on the refrigerator door. 

We are God’s turkey hand plate stick thingies. And He’s not coasting through a child’s craft session …

He is creating masterpieces.

For it is by grace[6] you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. ~ Ephesians 2:8-10

God doesn’t save us because we’ve done enough good works to earn His favor. He saves us because we need to be saved.

But don’t go to sleep on the “good works” thing! It is still important to God. When He redeems us, we become new creatures and we get to do good works because we are His. Good deeds are not the cause of salvation, but the product of it.

Note: We will circle back to good works in the next chapter when we look at it from our perspective. For now, we will look at them from His perspective.

Paul explicitly identified us as God’s “handiwork.” This is the Greek term poiema, which literally means “a crafted thing.” It is where we get the English words poem and poetry. In other English translations, this word has been rendered workmanship, masterpiece or creation.

I suppose it’s possible for a creator to make something without caring too much about the quality of work performed. God is not that kind of Creator. He is a Master Craftsman creating fine art and we are His medium.

God is also the kind of Master Craftsman who finishes what He starts. I can admit that I’m not good at this. I love to make stuff, and I dabble in many different things, but I’ve abandoned so many creative projects. I’ve got at least a dozen unfinished book projects sitting on my hard drive! God, unlike me, finishes what He starts.

Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ~ Philippians 1:6

David understood the relationship between God’s mercy and His handwork. When he prayed for mercy, he also meditated on God’s handiwork. There is comfort to be found in reflecting upon God’s creative portfolio.

The Lord will vindicate me; Your love,[1] Lord, endures forever – do not abandon the works of Your hands. ~ Psalm 138:8

Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy;[5] in Your faithfulness and righteousness[7] come to my relief … I meditate on all Your works and consider what Your hands have done. ~ Psalm 143:1-5

God has been faithful in the past and we can trust Him to continue being faithful in the future. If God is not finished with His work in one of us, then we just need to hang on. We are still works in progress.

How does God create something new within us?

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart … The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. ~ Psalm 37:4, 23-24

On the surface, this may sound like a blank check where God will grant your wishes if you “take delight” in Him. I used to think that if I could do “enough” then God would be my own personal ATM.

As a high schooler, I claimed this “promise” by asking God for a hot girlfriend. After all, that was my heart’s desire. God promised to give me what I wanted, right?

That’s not what these verses teach. Not even close.

The word “delight” is a curious Hebrew word that could be used to describe someone who didn’t have much of a backbone, i.e., a pushover or a softy. It could also be used to describe a piece of metal that had been heated so that it could be shaped by a metalsmith.

Over time, it came to describe someone who would allow another person to mold them into something they were not – such as a commanding officer might do with a young soldier.

To “take delight in the Lord” means to place yourself in God’s hands and allow Him to shape you according to His desires. He is the Craftsman, and when we are pliable in His hands then He has far more freedom to be creative in what He fashions out of us.

The whole idea of getting your heart’s desires?

Well … it’s not “getting whatever you want.” As He shapes us, He shapes our hearts. Eventually, the desires of my heart will be those things that God has placed in my heart.

So, yes … He will indeed give to me the desires of my heart. But that doesn’t mean I get whatever I want; it means that I will want different things. When I am pliable then God will mold my heart to look like His.

And if God the Master Craftsman is shaping my heart to look like His, then my heart is going to be full of mercy because that’s what’s in His heart.

Open Hands, pages 97-101