Planks and Specks

Excerpt taken from Dear Future Husband: A Love Letter Journey While Waiting for God’s Best by Cally Logan

January 4, 2017

Dear Future Husband,

How often do we easily find the flaws, missteps, and shortcomings in others but then completely ignore our own personal issues? Or if we do acknowledge them, why do we fail to simply do anything to work on them or heal them? Recently the Lord has been convicting me of the verse in Matthew 7:3–5: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

I do not want to live a life where I either ignore the planks in my own eye, or acknowledge them but do nothing about them. In sharing that vulnerability and truth, I openly offer my process toward my own self-work. When I started these letters to you, I wanted to invite you into the process of how I became the woman you are now married to. Part of this process requires acknowledging the aspects of myself that need work.

We are much like pieces of wood at the start, each specifically chosen by the Artist to be shaped and formed into a sculpted piece of beauty. The beauty is taken in by others, but the praise goes not to the work of art, but to the sculpting Artist Himself. The wood begins rough and solid, yet within this piece of wood exists the sculpture; it only needs to be revealed in time. For the beauty within to be revealed requires the act of whittling. A knife pierces the wood, again and again, shaving off whatever is not of the sculpture. Scraping and stripping ensues. The wood shrieks out in pain, “This hurts, this hurts!” Yet despite the whining of the wood, despite the resistance of the wood, the Artist knows this must be done for the sculpture to reach its fullest form. It must occur for all the falsehoods and the splintered fragments to be removed. Then at last, even if it seems the process will never end, the Artist dusts off the shavings and what remains is the finished sculpture. Exactly as intended by the master Craftsman. For we are His masterpiece, and it is for His glory that He whittles us into the person He destined us to become. I want to be a willing piece of wood.

Before me lie the habits and struggles I must allow to be shaved off of me. My impatience. My passive-aggressive habits. My self-doubts. My unhealthy coping mechanisms. These rest upon my shoulders like the wood that must be removed for me to be free, truly free, and to truly become myself. Yet I cannot remove them from myself; I need the help of the Artist. So when I ask for them to be removed, who am I to then cry out in pain when He scrapes them away? Why do I fall back into the coping methods I am accustomed to, such as an eating disorder? If I asked for that to be removed, then why do I see if the old chunk that was cut off could fit again?

This process requires placing my will in His able hands. Surrender is required, but after surrender comes obedience and willingness in the marked path ahead. If I truly want to become what I know I was destined to be, I must be willing to be whittled.

Our lives require this type of sanctification. There will be times where you go through it, or I go through it. There will be times when as a couple we share in it and go through it together. My heart for you today is to know that when such times do come, I am here to stand by you. As your wife and your rib. Your counterpart and your safe place. I am yours.

All my love,
Your Future Wife

Prayers:

Father God,

Please mold us, shape us, and carve us to become the people You designed us to be. I know it will hurt and ache, but I also know it will be worth it—not just for the personal reward but so that You will shine and receive every bit of praise for what is presented in us. Create and craft in us Your model and design for Your glory.

In Jesus’ name,
Amen

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Order your copy of Dear Future Husband: A Love Letter Journey While Waiting for God’s Best by Cally Logan