Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: How to be Saved (07/02/26)
-
TITLE: Grace and Hammer | Previous Challenge Entry
By Corinne Smelker
07/08/26 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
With careful hands and stubborn pride.
Each trembling wall I tried to mend
With bricks of gold and mortar wide.
I patched the cracks with noble deeds,
Hung finer doors to keep out shame,
Painted over every scar
And called the structure by my name.
Yet when the storms of life drew near,
The foundations groaned and swayed.
The roof that I had laboured on
Still leaked when heaven’s tears were made.
I worked until my strength was spent,
Replaced each beam with sturdier wood,
But still, the tremors shook the frame
The house remained unstable, flawed.
Then one still evening, at my door,
A Carpenter with callused hands
Knocked softly in the fading light
And offered what I’d never planned.
“I see your house,” He gently said,
“It trembles though you build it tall.
Will you let Me tear it down
And lay a new foundation, all?”
I laughed at first, how could it be?
To watch my life reduced to dust?
To lose the work of all my years
And place it all in the Carpenter’s trust?
But as the winds began to howl
And lightning split the midnight sky,
I saw my house begin to bow
I knew that it was time to die.
So with a trembling, whispered “Yes,”
I let Him swing His hammer true.
He tore down every wall I’d raised,
And cleared the ground where old dreams grew.
Upon the Rock, He laid new stone
A foundation deep and sure.
With beams of mercy, nails of grace,
He built a house that would endure.
Now, when the tempests rage outside,
I rest within these walls of peace.
The house I built could never stand—
But His has brought my soul release.
The Carpenter still works within,
Restoring rooms I cannot see.
And though the old house had to fall,
At last, I am truly free.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
