From Rough Stone to Smooth Stone

When David went out to face Goliath, he had no sword in his hand and no armour on. He picked five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's bag.

And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

1 Samuel 17:40

Why smooth stones? I once heard a pastor explain it: a round stone flies out of a sling fast, straight and far, and it's the easiest to control. A rough stone can't match it for direction or speed.

Every time I read this, I feel like I'm the roughest stone on that brook bank. Things that happened when I was little left me feeling I wasn't as good as other people, and I got used to seeing myself through other people's eyes: I'm weak, I'm no speaker, I can't do it. Then one day I read these verses over and over, and the tears just came:

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1 Corinthians 1:27–29

God doesn't choose us because we're already beautiful or already shining. He goes out of his way to choose the weak, so that we can see: when the thing gets done, it's God himself doing it.

We Are His Workmanship

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

Before this talk, a sister prayed with me. She said: Moses had nothing in his hand but a staff, yet God used it to part the Red Sea; that boy had only five loaves and two fish, and God used them to feed the crowd. What God uses is the little bit we already have in our hands. What I have in my hand is probably just a willing heart: willing to tell you how I came out, step by step, as one of the weakest, lowliest people there is.

So my prayers have changed too. I used to pray, "God, hurry up and take this situation away," "Make my children love the Lord soon." Now I pray more like this: "God, here in this stream, how do you want to shape me, so that I become that smooth stone in your hand?"