From A Wooden Block to Greatness

As Cub Scouts in the 1980s, my brother and I had the opportunities to showcase our woodworking skills during the Pinewood Derby. Actually, we didn’t – we would find a Hot Wheel or a car from one of the dreams posters in our shared bedroom, point it to our dad, and he would carve those wooden blocks into something light and aerodynamic for us to do well in the actual races. However, we did paint, sand, and test the cars before race day! Beyond the random funny cars, we had what were possibly two of the lightest and most successful cars for the majority of the races we entered. In Alan’s very first derby, he nearly won but quit racing his concept Corvette when he saw the other boys playing among themselves! To him, it seemed like they were having more fun than the then first-grader and he didn’t want to be left out. 

This is not just a story of a man, his two sons, and wooden blocks that became exotic cars. 

God does the same thing with us. How? 

He looks at the rough wooden blocks (us) and whittles us down to the Christ-like man or woman we are destined to become beneath that blunt surface. As with the cars having too much weight and being lightened for maximum performance and efficiency, He uses the C-clamp to keep us grounded while He works the hand saw, sanding pads, and the occasional weight aid (the wing on my maroon Lamborghini Countach, for example) one part at a time to mold us into the best we can become. Eventually, those Pinewood Derby cars would receive one or two applications of paint, dry overnight, and in our cases, go through a test run before the races at our elementary school or the Armory across town. 

Sometimes the process is wonderful; sometimes it is a painful journey. In the end, all of God’s tools have us conformed to the “image of His own likeness.” 

Are we trying to be more like God or more like ourselves? If we are desirous of a transformation, we must allow ourselves to be transformed from wooden blocks to greatness in His hands.