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In Ecclesiastes 3:11, we read that God makes everything beautiful in its time. It is comforting to know that nothing is wasted in God's economy, but all of it will be used for our good and His glory. You're invited to join us for poignant conversations and compelling interviews centered on believing for His beauty in every season.
Shannon Scott (00:05.932)
Well, welcome back to the Everything Made Beautiful podcast. Before we begin today, I'm super excited and giddy really to let you know about our Everything Made Christmas Beautiful live podcast recording. It's on November 11th at 7 p And for those of you who are local and even if you're not, it'll be at Rolling Hills Community Church here in Franklin. And I'm just thrilled about how this has come together.
We've got Laura Cooksey, Christy Nockels, Masi Willis, who has been my friend for over 25 years, so she really knows the scoop. We've got Allison Allen and Lisa Harper, who have all said yes to this beautiful night. In thinking about the Christmas season in particular, it's been landing on me lately that we're always living between two advents.
Jesus has already graced the earth as a baby bringing hope and redemption, but he's also coming again and reigning as king and what a day that will be. But until then we're in this liminal space between and there's joy, but there's pain. There's hope, but there's also hard. Every Christmas season I feel this tension.
There is so much joy and festivity to be certain. It's my hands down favorite time of year. But mingled with all that merriment is also the heart of hopes deferred or losses magnified or dreams unrealized. Two things can be completely true in this season and we wanna talk about it and ultimately celebrate.
These ladies have committed to come and be their fully delightful, hilarious, poignant, deep and talented selves. And we want to share it all with you. So I hope you'll join us. We've got a spot for you, but they are going fast. So for all the info and to purchase tickets, you can go to my website, shannonsusannscott .com and you'll see the everything made Christmas beautiful banner. And you can just click right there and you'll be taken to the page to grab your tickets. So if you're in town, please come join us.
Shannon Scott (02:19.402)
And if you're from out of town, why not make a fun trip out of it? You haven't lived until you've seen our little Franklin Hallmark town in the fall. And I know, I know, so many of you don't even talk about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. But if we don't record this episode before Thanksgiving, then it won't be ready to air in December. So you are cordially invited and I hope we'll see you there.
Now today, we're gonna talk about this concept of everything not always being rosy on this side of the veil of eternity. We're diving deep into a principle that's both hard and hopeful. It's one of those truths we often don't wanna face, but when we do, we realize how profoundly it shapes our walk with God and transforms our lives.
Often when I teach this to women, I sing a little snippet of that John Mellencamp song, Hurt So Good. You know the one. The chorus says, let's see. Hurt so good. Come on baby, make it hurt so good. Sometimes love don't feel like it should. You make it hurt so good. Bet you didn't know you were coming for a podcast and a sing along.
Now, obviously this isn't a worship song and it's definitely not a song about sanctification or anything close. But what my brain conjures up when I consider this principle that we rarely grow in godliness or learn transformational life concepts when we're in seasons of ease and plenty, it goes with that song. Instead, it's in the struggles, the suffering, the disappointments and the challenges of our lives where we are truly conformed.
Christlikeness. Now before we get into the heart of this principle, I want to acknowledge something. This is not a popular topic. Nobody is putting it on a coffee cup or wearing it on their sweatshirt. No one likes to struggle. No one enjoys suffering or hardship. Our natural inclination is to avoid pain, to seek comfort, and to pray for smooth, easy paths. In fact,
Shannon Scott (04:31.136)
There is a toxic theology out there that equates ease and success in life to the blessing of God and suffering or hardship to the displeasure of God. It's the equivalent of if God likes you, he'll bless you. And if he's disappointed in you, then you've got some work to do to get back into his good graces. But that's garbage theology, my friends. It is untrue. The frank reality is that smooth, easy paths don't create deep roots.
There are many natural illustrations of this all around us. You've likely heard how wind plays a crucial role in ensuring a tree's roots grow deep and strong. As the wind blows and the tree begins to bend and sway, more tension is created in its structure. Can I get an amen? Can anybody relate to tension in the structure?
Well, this tension for a tree signals the tree to anchor itself more firmly in the soil, prompting its roots to grow deeper and spread wider. Sure, the tree's preference, and frankly, your preference and mine, is likely sunny days, a temp of 68 to 73 degrees, with only enough breeze to keep cool, but not mess up the leaves or our hair. But for the tree, without the pressure of the wind, its roots may remain shallow.
leaving it vulnerable to toppling over during storms. Wind helps build resilience, allowing the tree to withstand challenges and thrive in the long term. You know the obvious application, but has it really gotten ahold of you? If we're always comfortable, we don't grow. If we're never stretched, we don't learn resilience. If we never face adversity, we miss out on the refining process that makes us more like Jesus.
process of sanctification. It's a beautiful, transformative, and often mysterious process. Sanctification is one of the most essential aspects of the Christian life, and it's a process that touches every part of who we are. From the inside out, it's also one of those journeys that reminds us over and over again that God is always making everything beautiful, sometimes in ways we don't immediately see or understand.
Shannon Scott (06:54.752)
So what exactly is sanctification? Well, at its core, sanctification is the lifelong process by which believers in Jesus are set apart, made holy, and conformed to the likeness of Christ. It's not something that happens overnight, but goodness, wouldn't that be amazing? It's not something we can achieve in our own strength. It's the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit within us.
transforming us day by day, moment by moment into the people God has created us to be. The word sanctification means the process of declaring something or someone holy. When we come to faith in Christ, we are declared holy, we are justified, made right with God by the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
But sanctification is the process of becoming in practice what we already are in position before God. So it's the working out of our salvation that Paul talks about in Philippians 2 .12. It's not about earning our salvation that's already been done. Sanctification is about living into this new identity we've been given in Christ. When I was little at church, we'd sing a song called Have Thine Own Way.
One of the verses that's burned into my brain says, let's see, maybe we'll sing again. Have thine own way, have thine own way. Thou art the potter. I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will.
While I am waiting, yielded and still. And when we first come to faith, we're like that lump of clay. The potter, God, has a vision for what he's shaping us into. He knows exactly how he wants us to look and how he wants our hearts to reflect his glory.
Shannon Scott (09:11.722)
And just like a potter takes extensive time to mold and shape the clay, working it carefully and patiently, God does the same with us. He takes our lives, our flaws, our struggles, our rough edges, and through the process of sanctification, He slowly and steadily forms us into something beautiful. This process isn't always easy, not by a long shot.
Sanctification so often involves moments of discomfort and challenge and even pain. Why? Well, because the old and sinful parts of us have to be stripped away. Think of it like pruning. In John 15, Jesus describes Himself as the vine and us as the branches. He says that every branch that bears fruit, the Father prunes so that it will bear even more fruit.
Pruning is a necessary part of growth. It's the process of cutting away the parts of the plant that are dead, diseased or unproductive so that the healthy parts can flourish. In the same way, sanctification is God's loving pruning of our lives. He cuts away the things that hinder our growth, the sin, the pride, the selfishness, so that we can bear more fruit. Fruit that reflects His love, grace, and holiness.
But here's the incredible part. Even in the cutting, even in the refining, God is always making everything beautiful. He doesn't prune us to punish us, he prunes us to make us more like Christ. Sanctification is a process of transformation. And with every step, God is shaping us into something more beautiful than we can even conceive of or imagine. Sometimes,
We resist this process because it's uncomfortable. I know I do. I do not like the feeling of being pruned. But it's in these moments that we must remember that God is always at work, even when we can't see the full picture. He's always making everything beautiful, but in its time. And the beauty of sanctification is that it's not about perfection, it's about progress. It's about becoming more like Jesus, one step at a time.
Shannon Scott (11:32.972)
one day at a time. As believers, we're not expected to be perfect. In fact, sanctification reminds us of our need for grace. We will still stumble, we will fall, and we will struggle with sin. But through it all, God is faithful to complete the good work he began in us, like Philippians 1 -6 talks about. Sanctification is about God's faithfulness to transform us even when we fall short.
It's about his relentless commitment to our growth in holiness, even when we don't feel like we're making progress. There's a really poignant tension in sanctification. It's both an active and passive process. On one hand, we are called to actively pursue holiness. We are called to put off the old self and put on the new self in Ephesians 4 22 through 24. We're called the fight against sin.
to resist temptation and to walk in obedience to God's word. But on the other hand, sanctification is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit within us. It is not something we can even accomplish on our own. It's God's power at work within us, transforming us from the inside out. So as we do our part and surrender to Him, as we yield to His leading, He does the work of making us more like
Christ. I love the image of a sculptor working with a block of marble. I recently got back from Rome and I visited the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica and there are all these sculptures out of marble. They are intricate. They are meticulously designed. Well, a sculptor sees the masterpiece within the stone before it's ever even revealed.
But in order to bring that masterpiece to life, the sculptor has to...
Shannon Scott (13:55.456)
The sculptor sees the masterpiece within the stone before it's ever revealed. But in order to bring that masterpiece to life, the sculptor has to chip away at the marble piece by piece. Sometimes it looks like nothing is happening. Other times it seems like the process is taking too long. But with every chip, the masterpiece becomes clearer, more defined, more beautiful.
Sanctification is like that. God, the master sculptor, is chipping away at the rough edges of our hearts, revealing the beauty of Christ within us. And though it may take time, and though we may not always see the progress, He is creating something beautiful, something that reflects His glory. One of the most encouraging things about sanctification is that it's a process that God has already planned for us.
Ephesians 2 10 tells us we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared when? Beforehand that we should walk in them. God has already laid out the path for our growth. He has already prepared the good works we are to walk in. Sanctification is simply the process of stepping into what God has already prepared. As we walk that path,
He is with us every step of the way, guiding us, shaping us, and making us beautiful. Now, I do not want to minimize the difficulty of sanctification. It is a process that involves real sacrifice, real struggle, real surrender. It's hard to let go of our old ways, our old habits, our old patterns of thinking. But I wanna encourage you today, don't give up. Don't lose heart.
God is at work in your life even in the moments when it feels like you're stuck, even in the moments when it feels like you're taking two steps forward and one step back. Sanctification is a slow process, but it is a sure one. God is faithful to finish what he started. Hebrews 12, one and two gives us this beautiful encouragement that you're likely familiar with.
Shannon Scott (16:14.92)
Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Sanctification requires endurance. It's a marathon, not a sprint. But as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who began this good work in us, we can run with confidence knowing he will bring it to completion. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. He is the one.
who makes everything beautiful in its time. This principle is illustrated throughout scripture. Think about the refining fire mentioned in the Bible. Malachi 3 .3 says, will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. This is a picture of God's work in our lives using the heat of trials and struggles to purify us, to burn away the impurities in our character and to shape us into vessels that reflect his image.
The isn't comfortable. It's intense and it can feel overwhelming, but it's necessary. Without the heat, without the refining fire, the silver remains impure. There's a beautiful illustration about how silver is refined. It says the silversmith holds the silver in the fire, watching carefully as the heat melts away the impurities. He doesn't leave it in the fire too long.
He knows exactly how long it needs to stay in the flames to be purified without being destroyed. And how does the silversmith know when the silver is fully refined? Well, when he can see his reflection in it. Isn't that powerful? God as our refiner allows us to go through the fire of struggle and suffering, but he never abandons us in it.
He's watching over us, ensuring that the flames don't consume us. We don't stay in there too long. And he knows we're ready when he can see his reflection in us, when we've been conformed to the image of Christ through the refining process. God, in his love and wisdom, allows us to go through trials, struggles, and hardships, not to harm us, but to purify us.
Shannon Scott (18:30.23)
to burn away the impurities in our hearts so that we might reflect his character more fully. He doesn't allow us to go through the fire to destroy us. He allows it to purify us, to bring out the beauty that he's placed within us. I always think in the same way about diamonds, which are formed under pressure. Diamonds are created deep within the earth under extreme heat and pressure. Without that pressure,
The carbon would never transform into the precious radiant gem we admire. God uses the pressures in our lives in much the same way. The pressures of disappointment, hardship, and lost, these aren't random occurrences. They are part of his process to transform us and to make something beautiful out of what feels like unbearable tension. The pressure forces us to depend on God, to cling to him.
and to be transformed from something ordinary into something extraordinary. But what about friction? Think about the way a dull piece of silver or brass can be polished to a brilliant shine. Polishing requires friction. The surface has to be rubbed over and over with enough pressure to remove the tarnish.
It's a process of refining, of taking away what has dulled the surface so that the true beauty underneath can shine. This principle of friction applies to our lives as well. The struggles we face, the friction we often experience in relationships or in our circumstances, or even in our inner beings, in the battles that rage inside us, these are the things that polish us. They're what remove the tarnish, the sin.
the attitudes, the fears and the doubts that dull our shine. Without friction, without the discomfort of being rubbed in those right places, we would remain dull. But with it, we begin to shine with the radiance of Christ. It's easy to look at suffering and ask, why God, why do we have to go through this pain? Why do we face these losses?
Shannon Scott (20:44.14)
But if we zoom out and look at the bigger picture, we start to see that God is doing something far greater than we can imagine. He's using these difficulties, set it over and over for our good and for His glory. Romans 8 28 reminds us of this in another passage that we know all too well, but may have lost a little bit of its fervor for us. And we know that in all things, God works.
for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. In all things, not just the good things, not just the easy things, but in all things, God is working for our good. Even in the pain, even in the heartache, even in the suffering, yes, he is at work refining us, polishing us, applying the necessary pressure to transform us into something beautiful that reflects his glory.
It's in these moments of hardship that we learn to trust God in a deeper way. When everything is going well, it's easy to rely on our own strength, isn't it? But when we're in the fire, when the pressure is on, that's when we come face to face with our need for God. That is when we learn to fully depend on Him, to surrender to His will and to allow Him to shape us into the people He's called us to be. I think about the times in my own life when I've faced hardship.
when things have felt overwhelming or confusing. I remember a specific season where the pressure and the pain were so intense that I began to question all I supposedly knew about God. It was very much a crisis of belief and wondering if everything I'd always been able to spout at a moment's notice about God was even true. I was definitely in despair. I was hemorrhaging from pain and disappointment and it was a
crossroads for me. Either I was throwing my surrender toward Jesus, or I was going to stiffen my neck and resist what he wanted to work out in me. Only by the grace of God did I not turn away. Only by the grace of God did I not walk away. The foundation was there. The truth had been sewn into me, but now the wind was here and it was a chance to dig for more depth. I can say now,
Shannon Scott (23:10.518)
that I'm grateful for that season and the others like it, where I, by the grace of God, chose to be yielded and still in the potter's hand. And to be clear, that has nothing to do with my own strength or virtue, that has everything to do with the Spirit of God enabling me to be surrendered. And then when I would stiffen and resist, to surrender again.
In the moment, it's hard to see what God is doing. Don't hear me minimizing your pain or struggle or slapping and it's all good because God is good sticker on it. It's so hard to imagine that he's working something good out of the mess and how anything good could even be the result. But as time goes on and I look back, I can see how he was preparing me, how he was teaching me lessons I wouldn't have learned any other way.
And more importantly, I see how he was shaping my heart, molding my character and drawing me closer to him. That's the beauty of God's refining process. It's not just about changing our circumstances or getting through the tough times. It's about changing us. It's about making us more like Jesus who himself was no stranger to suffering. Isaiah 53 .3 calls him a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.
Jesus knew what it meant to suffer and through his suffering, he accomplished the greatest work of redemption the world has ever seen. We're called to follow in his footsteps and that means embracing the truth that suffering is part of our journey, but it's not the end of the story. In 2 Corinthians 417, Paul writes, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So our troubles are not meaningless. They are producing something in us that is of eternal value, something far greater than we can comprehend. So if you're in a season of struggle right now, I wanna encourage you, God is with you. He is refining you even if you can't see it yet. The fire may feel hot, the pressure may feel overwhelming, the friction may feel unrelenting, but God is in control.
Shannon Scott (25:31.37)
He knows exactly how much you can bear and is using this season to make you shine, to bring out the beauty he has placed within you. This is a hurt so good season. And one day, whether in this life or in eternity, you will look back and see how God was using every moment, every difficulty, every challenge for your good and his glory.
You will see the ways he was making everything beautiful in his time, even when it didn't make sense in the moment. This is a principle we can hold onto with confidence. God doesn't waste anything. Nothing is wasted in the economy of God. Every trial, every hardship, every single tear is part of his refining process. And as we submit to that process, as we allow him to mold us and shape us,
we will come out on the other side more like Christ, reflecting his glory to the world around us. A few episodes ago, we talked about the fact that everything is preparation for the next thing with God. So I want to remind you that even in suffering, God is always preparing you. He's always preparing us. He is always at work in your life, even in the hard places, even in the moments you don't understand.
Trust that he is using these challenges to make you more like him and to reveal his beauty through your life. As trees, we are invited to dig our roots deep when the winds come. As clay, we're invited to be yielded and still as the potter molds us. As silver, we're invited to submit to the refining and polishing process until Christ's reflection is evident in us. The fire, the wind,
the molding, the pressure, the friction. They're all part of the process of transformation and conserved to remind us that through it all, God is making everything beautiful, including us, even when it hurts so good. Thanks for joining me today and I'll see you next time.