Sifted and Sorted

 I remember as a child when my dad and brothers would riddle rocks. Dad had a huge wooden frame with wire mesh on it. He would shovel a couple scoops onto the mesh and my brothers would shake the frame, sifting and sorting the smaller rocks from the larger ones.

The large rocks would be piled in one spot and then Dad would grab the smaller mesh and they’d sift the dirt from the little rocks.

The rockless dirt seemed to be the desired end result and would be used in the gardens. But, with my father, a rock was never a wasted thing. He would use the larger ones to create borders around his vegetable and flower gardens, and the smaller rocks would be used to fill pot-holes in our long, windy, driveway.

My dad also had a rock polisher. Once in awhile he would spot a rock that seemed to be extra special in appearance. He’d toss it into a wooden box nearby and it would eventually end up rumbled and rolled through the polishing process and come out shiny and pretty, ready to be used for a bit more aesthetic décor among his flower gardens.

This week I used the term that God was sifting and sorting me. It wasn’t until today, in the midst of abandoned worship at church, that I fully understood what that meant. I had a quick flashback to my brothers and dad riddling rocks, sifting and sorting.

Many of my friends are being sifted and sorted lately.
It seems we are all rattling around on a mesh frame, having everything in our life sorted out; large rocks, smaller ones, valuable gardening dirt, and beautiful rocks to be polished.

Everything I (we) do is usable. None of it goes to waste. God has a purpose for all of it: Large, small, fine and fertile, and then uniquely attractive.

 Not every rock in our life can be the border, or fill the holes, or be used to grow a seed, or be the beautiful eye catching decoration among the flowers. But be assured that every rock is for His glory…and He will use it.

I write this out today because I believe the Lord showed this to me in the prophetic gift today. Not just for me, but for others, for whoever stumbles upon my blog.  

With my Father, the rocks in our lives are never a wasted thing.