We do not recognize him as Michael Angelus Bonarotus Florent Faciebat.  We know him as Michelangelo. The poet, the artist, the architect, the painter and…the sculptor. He sculpted the “Pieta” and “David” and he of-course used different types of tools to complete those projects.  Author Ken Gire describes the tools he used, “He used the hammer, which was his primary tool, along with a variety of pointed chisels that he used to shape the block.  Some chisels had serrated edges. Others were flat. Each had its own role in shaping the marble, its own special use, however slight. He also had an assortment of rasps and abrasives.  The tools of a torturer. Or so it seems.” It is one thing for a marble slab to receive those blows, but what if you and I are the recipients of pain?

I’ve been “cut-on” three times so far.  Who in their right mind welcomes going “under the knife”?  I was never given an invitation but an ultimatum when a Nurse followed me to my car and said, “Mr. Haynes you have to come back in, we found something!” I had planned on heading back to work after a Nuclear Stress Test that spring day in 2016. Wishful thinking. I turned around to the Nurse who seemed to stalk me. I said “What?!” I was a little dumbfounded. She had previously told me about 30 minutes prior how well I did and that I could leave. But now she responded, “The images taken of your heart are concerning.  You have to meet with our on-site Cardiologist”.

Six days later I awoke to an eight inch scar on my chest.  It was the aftermath of a heart bypass surgery due to five diseased and blocked arteries.  I was out of work for three months. During that time, I sat in a chair in our bedroom every day and stared out the window.  I talked to God. “Why did you allow this? God, what do you want from me”? I felt He said in response, “A new heart”. Since May 3, 2016 I have been on a new journey, and it goes so much deeper than going to Planet Fitness now to exercise on a treadmill.  I don’t believe God is through with me. I feel like my life has a new purpose now as I pursue my love of writing to encourage folks on their journey.

From The Work of His Hands, Ken Gire continues “God is using the circumstances of our lives, all the circumstances of our lives, as tools. He goes about His work the same way Michelangelo went about his. Within the rough-hewn stone of the self is trapped the image of Christ. To release the image, He chips away everything that isn’t Jesus.”

Isaiah said, “And yet, O Lord, you are my Father.  We are the clay, and you are the potter. We are all formed by your hand.” (64:8 NLT)  Will you let God “work” on you?

pictures courtesy of “Nelson & his Nikon”