I mentioned in a previous devotional how one of the things that has kept me busy during this strange time of the coronavirus is the remodeling of one of our rooms in our house (well, our entire upstairs really, but that sounds too overwhelming. We’re just fortunate that our house isn’t very large!). It’s kind of a long story as to how the rooms needed redone, and the process isn’t finished, but we’re moving towards completion…slowly. One day at a time. Step by step. Or maybe inch by inch…centimeter by centimeter? Some days it feels like progress. Other days it feels like regress. Then, there are days that feel like no-gress (I just made up a word that had “gress” in it to mean “stay the same,” neither forward nor backwards. You’re welcome to use it. No-gress.).
One of the main steps in this remodeling process has been the the drywall. Let me just tell you. DRYWALL IS MISERABLE!!!!!! I have great respect for those who are able to hang and finish drywall proficiently and smoothly. As for me? I’m not a fan. Let me explain how this works for me.
Step 1: Measure, Cut, Hang. First, measure the wall. Then, measure the drywall. Once you think you have that figured out, you cut the drywall to size. Next comes the fun part…hanging. This requires a decent amount of muscle and flexibility as you try to hang these huge, unwieldy sheets without throwing out your back, sweating profusely, and praying that you made the cuts in the right spot (particularly around outlets and switches). Then, you find out the cut was a little bit off so you take the sheet down and start again. Measure. Cut. Lift. Once it’s right, screw the thing into the wall. Oh, but you can’t just put screws in there all willy-nilly. You have to hit the studs and screw to just the right depth. If the screw is too high…you’ll see them forever. Too low…they’ll pull through the paper and won’t hold the drywall up properly. By the way, each sheet requires a fair number of screws. That’s step one. Measure. Cut. Hold. Measure. Cut. Hold. Screw. Screw. Screw. Screw. Repeat.
Step 2: Mud & Tape. This is what I like to call “hide the mistakes” time. Put an extra hole in the drywall? Mud and tape. Have a gap that’s a little too big? Mud and tape. Carve your honey’s name into the drywall to profess your undying love? Mud and tape. Now, again, you can’t go about it all footloose and fancy free. You have to take your time, work with precision. If you leave a ridge, it will look like a mountain range once you paint. A little divot…the Grand Canyon. Mud performs best in thin layers, each section requiring at least 2-3 layers with a recommended 24 hours of dry time in between. Mud. Tape. Mud. Mud. Mud. Mud. And mud some more.
Step 3: Sand. & sand & sand & sand & sand. All of the mud that was applied in step 2 needs sanded. That stuff doesn’t just dry all flat and smooth. It needs some more attention to get there. Enter sanding. You have to knock off all of the rough edges, flatten out all of the peaks. Blend the transitions between the sheets to look as if it was all one board for all of its life. It’s tedious. It’s tiring, and it makes quite the mess. Fine, white dust travels everywhere. Every. Where.
Step 4: Inspect & Paint. At this point, it’s time to say that the drywall is done. Good to go. So, you look over the wall and evaluate. Have I gotten out all of the bumps? Have I filled in all of the dips? Is there anything on this wall (or ceiling) that is going to stand out? Do the corners look good? Any blemishes or flaws? If so, fix them. If not, paint. Now, most of us know about painting. Again, not always some easy-peasy thing. It takes time. Rolling it on, not making a mess, filling in the corners, multiple coats. On and on and on.
Step 5: Enjoy. Look at your work and be proud of your accomplishment.
Do you know what happens if you skip out on any of the steps? Enjoyment does not come. Do you know what happens if you don’t perform the steps well? Enjoyment does not come. Do you know what happens if in Step 4 during the inspection stage you say “Eh, it’s probably good enough”? Enjoyment does not come.
In my haste and my desire to be done, I rushed the sanding a bit. Then, I rushed the inspecting a bit. I wasn’t trying to do that, but I did. I didn’t look at the wall closely, I didn’t inspect it with precision (in part because of haste, in part because of limited experience). So, we moved into painting too fast. Guess what? The paint really, really shows the mistakes. Big bumps and mountains on top of where screws should be hidden. Large ridges for seams. Valleys and gashes in places where there should be nothing but drywall as smooth as glass. Miserable. At that point, there were two options. Live with it, or do it again.
Do you know what’s worse than sanding the drywall for the first time? Sanding it the second. After it has been painted. Now, instead of just drywall mud there’s paint that has set and drywall mud. Plus, the chances are high that you’ll sand too low and have to reapply mud…only to sand it again. How do I know? Well, I mentioned earlier…DRYWALL IS MISERABLE!!!!!!
Getting drywall that is smooth and white and flat and nice is no easy task (especially if you don’t completely know what you are doing). Granted, people who know what they’re doing can get it done quickly and proficiently, but even then it takes time, talent, effort and a whole lot of mess.
But what does this have to do with us? Surely, this whole thing can’t just be about drywall. Right?
Of course not! Here’s the thing. We, like drywall, are hopefully moving on to perfection, moving on to be more like the person we were designed to be. Drywall is designed to be hung in a way that the finished product is flat, smooth, seamless, but a lot of work is required to get it there. We, too, are created with a design, with a purpose, to be like Jesus, and it takes work to get us there.
Step 1: Measure, Cut, Hang. Take “measure” of your life. Decide how you will live it, choose which path to follow, and then go that route. Recognize the true hanging. It happened quite literally, and I’m not being flippant. Jesus was hung, on a cross, for us. For me. For you. That’s step one. We have to accept the gift that was given for us, recognize that our lives need to be built on Christ, receive the salvation that God offers us through Jesus and let everything else be built on that foundation. If we don’t start there, we’re lost for sure. It would be like hanging drywall on a rotted frame loaded like termites. It might hold for a while. It might look good from the outside, but it won’t last. Our lives need to be built, our drywall needs to be hung, on Jesus…who hung on a cross for us.
Step 2: Mud & Tape. Once we know Jesus, there is more to the relationship than just acceptance of salvation. There are gaps to be filled, holes to be patched. We have to recognize that even after we have accepted Christ, we’re not done. We haven’t reached fullness. We’re still moving on to perfection.
If I hung the drywall without finishing it, it would be terrible! You’d come to my house and see the walls and wonder, “What’s wrong with this guy?” “He’s acting like he’s done, but you can still see the screws, the gaps, the blemishes!” Sure, the drywall would be up, but it wouldn’t be completed.
We, too, need some finishing. God’s grace is sufficient. The price that Jesus paid is enough. I’m not talking about earning our way into heaven, or gaining God’s favor or anything like that. What I am saying, is that we need to allow God to fill in some gashes, to cover some scars, to smooth out some rough edges, to fix some imperfections. Even after we come to know Jesus, we need to allow God to continue to work within us that we might be more like Him. We need some mud, some tape, and a whole bunch of sanding.
Step 3: Sand. Too often, in our Christian walk, we want to skip ahead to the paint. “I’m done God. Don’t worry about it! Nobody will notice the flaws! Let’s get some paint on it! Let’s just be done.” But God knows better. He knows we need the grit of the sandpaper to smooth out some rough spots, to knock down some edges, to transform us to be more like we were intended to be in the first place. If we skip over the sanding and just throw the paint on…guess what? The blemishes still show. The ridges stand out even more, and the process becomes even more difficult. Years lived with the patterns of pride or selfishness or any other imperfection are harder to erase when they have become ingrained and part of our pattern. It’s better to let God deal with them right away, to be a willing participant, to allow God to do the finishing.
You know there’s an obvious trait about sandpaper…it’s rough. That’s by design. It’s made to be rough so that it can remove material. I imagine if the material, such as the drywall mud, could talk, it would exclaim “Why are you using that rough stuff on me? I don’t like it! I prefer my bumps, my ridges.” But that’s what is necessary. Sandpaper needs to be rough. When you lose the roughness, the grit, the sandpaper is no longer effective.
There are times in life when the season that we’re in gets rough. When that happens, when life gets rough, when the storms come, when the sandpaper is rubbed, allow God to work. Allow God to use the tough situations to smooth you out. Allow God to knock down the blemishes, to remove the imperfections, to shape and to mold you to be like you were designed, made in the image of God, moving towards perfection.
Step 4: Inspect & Paint. As we continue with God, we need to inspect our lives, compare them to the Bible, look to see where we are coming up short…better yet, allow God to speak to us about where we are coming up short. Keep looking. Keep inspecting. “Paint” the walls that have been victorious, celebrate the growth and the removal of old sins and stains, but allow God’s light to shine to continue to reveal your weaknesses, to make you more like Jesus. Allow more sanding where necessary.
Step 5: Enjoy. This can accompany all of the the steps. Life isn’t completely like drywall. It’s not all misery and suffering. There is joy, there is happiness, there is hope. Enjoy the blessings of the Lord and the relationship that God offers to have with you throughout the whole process.
I want to close with a Scripture. It doesn’t have much to do with drywall…they had other ways of finishing their walls when the Bible was written. But, it does talk about building…specifically building your life on the firm foundation (& building something that would be of value, lives that reflect God’s glory). May we heed this advice, place our lives in the hands of the Master Carpenter, the Top Notch Professional Drywall Finisher, and may we continue to be shaped by God to be more like the Son, Jesus.
For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.
~ 1 Corinthians 3:11-15
~ Pastor Chris
