[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fgoing-against-the-grain":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fgoing-against-the-grain-surround":72},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":55,"date":56,"description":17,"extension":57,"image":58,"meta":59,"minRead":60,"navigation":61,"path":62,"postType":63,"publication":64,"publicationUrl":58,"seo":65,"stem":66,"topics":67,"__hash__":71},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fgoing-against-the-grain.md","Going Against the Grain",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"1 John","Deuteronomy",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":51},"minimark",[14,18,21,24,27,30,42,45,48],[15,16,17],"p",{},"Lee makes beautiful things out of wood. His workshop is filled with tools for cutting and sanding boards. He even has a powerful vacuum system for cleaning up the sawdust. He makes tables and shelves, salad bowls and clock cases.",[15,19,20],{},"Lee is quick to point out, however, that he doesn't really \"make\" anything. God made the wood. Lee simply \"takes what God made and cooperates with it.\" He sees God's handiwork in the unique texture, color, and smell of pine, walnut, hickory, and oak. He shapes wood into beautiful things by cooperating with God's creative design.",[15,22,23],{},"The same is true of a musician who produces lovely music by cooperating with God's principles of melody, harmony, and rhythm. A pilot flies a plane by cooperating with the Master Designer's laws of physics. A farmer plants, weeds, and harvests, but only God can make a seed grow.",[15,25,26],{},"All of us function best when we cooperate with God. I am not a skilled woodworker, but I know that when you sand a piece of wood you need to rub the sandpaper with the grain, not against it. Go against the grain, and your task will be doubly difficult.",[15,28,29],{},"And so it is with life. Because he has our best interests at heart God always tells us the truth about ourselves and how life works. \"His commands are not burdensome\" (1 John 5:3); indeed, the Lord wants to lift the burden—but we have to trust and obey. The problem is, we insist on going against the grain.",[15,31,32,33,37,38,41],{},"In one of his sermons, John Henry Newman pointed out, \"If I want to travel north and all the roads are cut to the east, of course I shall complain ",[34,35,36],"span",{},"about"," the roads. I shall find nothing but obstacles; I shall have to surmount walls, and cross rivers, and go round about, and after all fail ",[34,39,40],{},"in reaching"," my end.\" That's what happens when we try to move through the wilderness of life without God's guidance. It's no wonder the journey is so difficult. Sin puts us at cross-purposes with reality. We're going against the grain of God's creation.",[15,43,44],{},"Moses warned the Israelites about the consequences of neglecting the Lord and worshiping false gods. \"You will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, . . . never sure of your life. In the morning you will say, 'If only it were evening!' and in the evening, 'If only it were morning!'\" (Deuteronomy 28:65-67). That's how it feels when we go against the grain of reality. There's a nagging sense of anxiety and dissatisfaction, a haunting sense that something's missing—all warning signs that should point us back to our Maker.",[15,46,47],{},"The road isn't always smooth for a Christian, but you'll remove a lot of unnecessary bumps if you cooperate with God and move in the direction of his leading.",[15,49,50],{},"Going against the grain of God's truth will only give you splinters.",{"title":52,"searchDepth":53,"depth":53,"links":54},"",2,[],"First Look","2005-07-24","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fgoing-against-the-grain","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Fgoing-against-the-grain",[68,69,70],"Biblical Theology","Spiritual Formation","Discipleship","W93rJujmSfKr1wT1kmECdkgR1aDD-5uU-n44ntP0kEw",[73,78],{"title":74,"path":75,"stem":76,"description":77,"children":-1},"God Thought of It First","\u002Farticles\u002Fgod-thought-of-it-first","articles\u002Fgod-thought-of-it-first","We build swimming pools. God made the ocean.",{"title":79,"path":80,"stem":81,"description":82,"children":-1},"Going Steady","\u002Farticles\u002Fgoing-steady","articles\u002Fgoing-steady","Remember Aesop’s fable about the tortoise and the hare? The fast but overconfident hare learned the moral of the story: “Slow and steady wins the race.”"]