REFLECTIONS  

THE WOODPECKER PRINCIPLE

          Someone has said that the Christian’s most valued role is not to be a hawk, or a dove, but a woodpecker. The woodpecker bores beneath the surface and removes the worm that, unfounded and undestroyed, would take the tree’s life. It leaves a scar, but it saves the tree.
             Is your life-tree in need of a woodpecker? Why not make a personal application of this woodpecker principle?
          Think about the criticism you resent. Perhaps it was not all justified, but maybe it brought out a fault that you really need to correct, a worm that, left unnoticed, would multiply and be destructive to your inner life. By bringing our attention to these faults, our critic (woodpecker) becomes our savior!
                Yet most of us find it hard to accept these criticisms graciously and constructively. We are far more likely to find ourselves saying: “What does that person have against me?” or “What did I ever do to him/her?” “Why has he/she noticed my faults and overlooked all the good things I do?” or “Why is he/she trying to hurt me?”
          Worse yet, we may actually take the offensive and start looking for his/her faults, or find some way to punish him/her for his/her disloyalty to what we had thought had been a friendship.
          Of course we don’t want the flaws in our character or personality pointed out. Yet this person (woodpecker) who detects a “worm” in our life and pecks at it is our best friend. He/she may be saving us from the little “worms” in our personalities that could destroy us.
          Human woodpeckers can actually increase our usefulness to God. They may be a tool God is using to help us become bug free?
          The next time you feel a “peck,” thank God for those helpful human woodpeckers! They are your best friends!
              Remember, “The correction of discipline is the way to life.” (Proverbs 6:23 NLT) 

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