I am a cabinet and furniture refinisher. I get so much joy from taking something that most people would sell for dirt cheap just to get it out of their home or worse, throw it away. For furniture, I do custom work for clients on pieces that they already own. They bring their pieces to me for repairs and restoration to its original finish, or maybe they want a complete makeover with a new design. My favorite pieces to do are heirloom pieces that have been passed down from generation to generation. There’s just something so special about working on a dresser or table that has the history and memories of a family literally embedded in its wood grain.
A brief word here about furniture quality. If you can find a piece of furniture that is at least 50 years old but needs to be refinished, BUY IT. If you are looking for quality, do not waste your money on anything that you can buy in the store from the last 20 years or so. It won’t last! In the long run you will save money by buying something old and paying to have it refinished or even DO IT YOURSELF! YOU CAN DO IT!
So, what does this have to do with you? Let me tell you about this piece.
Many would look at this picture and say, “Oh, how gorgeous! Look at that beautiful grain on those drawers! DON’T PAINT IT! You will ruin it!” However, in this picture, what you cannot see are the many scratches on the top. The spot on one of the doors where someone tried to fix a gouge that went against the grain. Let’s just say they get an “A for effort”. Even if it had no damage, my client has a different dream for this piece. See, she has a specific plan for it, but in this condition and with this design, it doesn’t fit the vision she has. She has looked and looked for a buffet for her elegant foyer in her home and just hasn’t been able to find the exact piece. Enter this dated, banged up, dirty, bought from a garage sale piece.
Have you ever felt like this buffet? Others may look at you and only see what is presented in a “picture”, but you are aware of all of the “damage, dirt, old, tired…….” that isn’t visible from a picture.
Or maybe you know that Jesus has a dream, a vision and purpose for your life but you just don’t feel like in your current condition that you can be what He wants you to be because of the “damage, dirt, old, tired……”
Jesus is your Refinisher! He can, and even wants, to receive you just as you are and clean, repair, restore, shine, and bring fresh life to you! Did you catch what I said there? Not only CAN HE do it, He WANTS TO!
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope”
See as a furniture refinisher, I actively seek out the discarded, the old, the damaged, the overlooked, the tired because I see the hope, the possibilities, the life left in the piece.
As YOUR REFINISHER, Jesus is actively seeking YOU, because beneath ALL of the scratches, hurt, gouges to your heart, and weariness, He sees the His dream, vision and purpose for your life. He sees only NEW LIFE! It doesn’t matter if you see His vision for you or not. HE IS THE REFINISHER! He sees the possibility that you nor anyone else can.
Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”
Let’s talk about the process. The beginning is the hardest part. It’s the dirtiest part. It’s the least fun part. It’s the try and try again part. It’s the part that is the most necessary. See, as a furniture refinisher, I know that my end result is only as good as my prep in the beginning. If I don’t clean completely, sand the piece or fill in the holes first then my final finish won’t last. I have been known to procrastinate on just getting started because I don’t enjoy the prep process. Oh, I can skip that part and just throw some paint on a piece and it will look better for a period of time, but will it last? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
You and I are no different. We can’t skip the prep process that Jesus must go through as He restores and transforms us. Many times, He must take us all the way down to the “bare bones” of who we are before He can begin the actual remaking part. It’s painful, it’s a messy process, it’s ugly, it’s slow grueling work, but it’s the beginning of the beautiful part. If we can have a “I will endure this because I trust Jesus”, we will see His dream become reality.
Job 23:10 AMP But He knows the way that I take (and He pays attention to it). When He has tried me, I will come forth as (refined) gold (pure and luminous).
As I am working on a piece, I literally touch every inch of the piece. I get to know it even better than its owner does. Sometimes, I find things out about a piece then share it with the owner and they will say, ‘WOW, I had no idea! This has been in my home for 30 years!” Do you see where I’m going with this? Its no different with our Refinisher and us. If we let Him do His work, He will reveal things about ourselves that we never knew. Sometimes, its something that needs to be repaired. Sometimes, it’s a hidden lovely design that we didn’t even know was a part of who we are. You can trust THE REFINISHER!
Did you know that ALL OF US need to be refinished by the MASTER REFINISHER? I have found myself in a room with other “perfect, clean, smooth, fresh, shiny” people and felt like the only “dirty, old, tired, scratched, damaged” one in the world. Have you been there? That is a terrible feeling? It makes us want to retreat. We feel unworthy. We isolate ourselves. We may feel more comfortable in the “back of a garage” like a discarded piece of furniture or in a back room where no one can see us. IT’S A LIE FROM SATAN! We all are in the refinishing process! Some are further along than I am so they are a bit more shiny and smooth looking, but that doesn’t mean the process is finished in their lives. Their “shine” is proof that they are trusting the MASTER REFINISHER to complete the good work that He has started.
Philippians 1:6 AMP I am convinced and confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will (continue to) perfect and complete it until the day of Christ Jesus (the time of His return)
The hardware for this piece is a perfect example.
Go back and look at the picture of this hardware on the buffet at the beginning. In that picture, it looks fine. It looks “normal”. The above picture shows what a lot of cleaning and buffing with sand sponges revealed about the hardware. Shiny, gold, classy, stunning! However, that one piece that hasn’t been through the process yet sure does look like its worthless and doesn’t belong. What it doesn’t know is that all of the pieces surrounding it used to look dirty, old, tired, and like they needed to be replaced too. Thankfully this one piece trusted the process and when I was finished with it, it too became clean, shiny, smooth and stunning.
It wasn’t easy. It was slow. It was dirty. I went through SO MANY sanding sponges and A LOT of cleaning solution. I worked on this hardware so long that my fingers turned into prunes! LOL!
Maybe you can relate to this last piece of hardware in the picture. I know I have and still do sometimes because I am still in the process of restoration and refinishing.
I’m here to give you HOPE! Jesus doesn’t leave like He finds us.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Our only part in the process is to submit, trust, and wait through the process.
SO, may I present to you this stunning Buffet that will now be a statement piece in my client’s formal foyer in her very elegant home. No longer is it in a back room hidden from view, but will now be proudly displayed for all to see as they walk through the front door.
The Word of God tells us in I Thessalonians 3:13 that when He has completed His refinishing process that Jesus will present us blameless before our Heavenly Father. He will present YOU with great JOY because you let Him do His work.
Go ahead, scroll back up and look at the “BEFORE”.
Now, look at YOU!
Maybe you feel like you are still hidden away because of all of the scratches, dings, dirt, damage, old, tired. Remember, the REFINISHER seeks out the scratched, dinged, damaged, old and tired. Present yourself to Him, submit to the process because He knows what you need better than you do, trust Him, and wait.
You too will end up being a stunning, elegant, statement piece for Jesus to display for all to see HIS GLORY!
From one Living Sacrifice to another, you are anointed, chosen and cherished!
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