WHEN LIFE GIVES SCRAPS, MAKE A QUILT
“Oh,
the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable
His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out.” (Romans 11:33, NIV)
Those of you who have sewn before know what it’s
like to take a scrap piece of fabric and turn it into something beautiful. I
love to sew, and recently the Lord gave me strength to make our kitchen curtains,
couch and floor pillows. I was also able to take a three hour sewing class last
week and learn some new techniques on my Bernina sewing machine. It gives
me great joy to accomplish these sewing projects and to make something useful and attractive for others or our home!
In the same way, God can take “the scraps”
of our lives and make something beautiful out of them (Rom. 8:28). He
can take chronic illness, pain, divorce, heartache and financial burdens and use them to draw us closer to Him and conform
us more into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29). Sometimes the trials seem
endless, but if we trust in God and wait on Him, He promises to make everything beautiful in its time (Eccles. 3:11).
Someone in Scripture who seemingly got scraps out
of life was Dorcas. Her life was full of continuous good works and charitable
deeds. Why then did she get sick and die?
We don’t know. After her death, the saints who knew her washed and
laid her in an upper room and sent for Peter in nearby Lydda. When he arrived,
what did Peter do? He asked everyone to leave, knelt down and prayed. God, in His Sovereignty and mercy, restored Dorcas to life through Peter’s prayer.
We live in a fallen world. Many things happen that we just don’t understand. God
is the Creator, we are the creature (Rom. 9). He did not give Job an explanation
for his losses and physical suffering, and He does not have to explain our trials to us.
As Christians, our duty is to trust in God and rest in Him alone. He is
worthy of our complete trust!
Dear Jesus, Your plan for our lives is a good plan. Help us to leave the outcome in Your hands.
