Gizzards and Grace 

          I’m pretty sure you've never used the words “Gizzards” and Grace” in the same sentence. I know I haven't

          I was reading an article by Roy Blount, Jr. in a back issue of Garden and Guns; a magazine devoted to life in the South. He describes the gizzard of a chicken as the organ that acts like teeth. The chicken swallows a bite, it goes into the craw, then into the gizzard where the two halves grind the food much like our molars.

          Like most of you, I have eaten gizzards and found them about as tough as an old tennis shoe. Those who like the claim that chewing them longer just allows you to taste them longer. Maybe.

          Blount goes on to say: “Politics is . . . the gizzard of society, full of grit and gravel, and the two political parties are its two opposite halves. . . which grind on each other.” Pretty accurate, I say. Especially in the current political climate, where more and more hatred, bitterness, animosity, and hostility runs rampant and blocks all progress towards a better world. More grinding than progress.

          All grinding is not bad. There is a Biblical precedent for this “grinding.” It is found in Proverbs 27:17. “As iron sharpens iron, one man sharpens another.” It is this “grinding” process through which we go that begins to shape us, to hone us into the Christians God calls us to be.

          Bookstores are filled with self-help books that describe this process of honing and shaping. Coaches use this process to hone their teams to victory. The military uses this process to turn citizens into well-trained soldiers. Woodworkers use this process to finish their work.

          When God uses this process, it is always – always – an act of grace. It is done with infinite love and is applied with the grace only God can offer.

          So, the next time you find yourself in the maelstrom of life, being ground upon from all sides, just think of yourself as being in God’s gizzard; being shaped and formed into something set apart for His grace.

          May God bless you with peace and prosperity.

          Doug


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