I have an amazing opportunity every week. I get to (literally) set the stage for 125 or so people to worship our God. Our multi-site meets in an old elementary school about 20 miles from my home. Thirty minutes into the process, the large middle screen is up and audio gear is out of storage. An hour into it, and the stage is up, lights are on and being set, and audio is well on its way to being done. 90 minutes, beginning to end, and a small gymnasium becomes a place worship. We have a great crew of men and women who dedicate this time each week, and they rock!
There is a process that occurs each and every time we do this--the screen is set while audio gear is hauled from the practice/storage rooms, the stage goes up while lights are set. Audio goes on-stage as platforms are put up. Stage is set while chairs are put out and projectors aimed. Soundboard is programmed while final tweaks occur with lights and projectors.
While we have gotten into a smooth rhythm, but it took a while, and there is still a process. The gym doesn't become a worship center by doing the work itself.
The same is true with our spiritual lives. We cannot transform ourselves into "holier" people without the work of the Holy Spirit. HE must set the stage. He must reveal those things which need repair or removal. HE must work in us. And, we must let Him. I posted this earlier:

But the good news is this: while our refining is an on-going process, the end result is someone beautiful, someone pure, someone who has been made holy and can worship IN THE PRESENCE of a holy God. The God who created us, knowing we would struggle, stumble, and sin. The perfect God who sent His perfect Son to redeem an imperfect people. The loving God who gives us the Holy Spirit as our refiner.

Father, I thank You that You use this imperfect person to reach an imperfect world with Your perfect love and forgiveness. Help me to remember that Your work of perfecting me will not be comlete on this earth. Help me to not be frustrated when I don't get it right, but to instead trust in You every step of the way.

Before time

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob; he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:1,2 ESV, emphasis mine

I came across this gem the other day. I've been in a season of refining and pruning. I've been beaten by the enemy, and though I am bruised and scarred, I am not defeated.
Back to our passage. I read this on a day full of confusion and self-doubt. God used His word here to remind me to whom I really belong. I reread this passage today, and something else stood out. God is telling His people, 700 years before Christ, that He HAS redeemed them. The redemption, the salvation, of His people had been His plan all along. The ultimate sacrifice had not yet been made, but the resulting redemption was complete.
Have I failed as a friend, a sister, a daughter? Have you missed the mark as a wife, a mother, an employee, a supervisor? Have you been wounded by the words or actions of others? Have you done the wounding? I can answer "yes" to many of these. Today, even. But the good news is, Christ has completed our redemption, even before time began, He says to us, "I HAVE redeemed you," no matter what, He loves us. He is FOR us.

Father God, Creator of all that is, and the One who formed me, I stand in awe that, even before You created time, you had MY redemption in mind. You knew my failures before I was created, and yet You chose to form me anyway. God, take my short-comings and my failures, and use them to grow me. Take my wounds and use them to make something beautiful. My life is Yours, God.