The Shaping of a Disciple
by Dale Martin Stone

When God wants to drill a man, And thrill a man, and skill a man, When God wants to mold a man To play the noblest part, When He yearns with all His heart To build so great and bold a man That all the world shall be amazed, Then watch God's methods, watch His ways! How He ruthlessly perfects Whom He royally elects; How He hammers him and hurts him, And with mighty blows converts him, Making shapes and forms which only God Himself can understand, Even while His man is crying, Lifting a beseeching hand... Yet God bends but never breaks When man's good He undertakes; When He uses whom He chooses, And with every purpose fuses Man to act, and act to man, As it was when He began; When God tries His splendor out, Man will know what He's about! Originally from Sourcebook of Poetry. This poem may more currently be found in Swindoll's Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003).