My grandmother used to make beautiful quilts out of cast off scraps friends would bring her by the bagful.
She never shopped in a quilting store with color-coordinated bolts of fabric lined up like watercolors against the wall. She didn’t purchase a kit with pre-cut squares or fancy appliques.
She took whatever she had and made it work. Even the ugly scraps were made beautiful when placed “just so’. Bits that others found too small to be useful were melded together by her skillful hand into lovely gifts that continue to bless me and others.
She never wasted anything.
God doesn’t waste anything either.
When I consider the stories of Moses, Joseph and David I can see how all the events in their early lives shaped them in preparation for the work He had for them later on. Hardship, blessings, training and waiting were molded together by His skillful hands into precisely the vessel needed to carry the Good News to that generation.
As a young mother, I dreamed of many things God might do in and through me and my family. I thought I could envision the quilt He was making-the arrangement and the colors. I never imagined so many dark patches would be part of the pattern.
I don’t like this chapter of my life in many ways. But it is a chapter God is writing and will use to mold me into what He wants me to be.
I don’t expect that I will know this side of heaven what He is making from the bits and pieces, but He has promised it will be a masterpiece.
So I want to be pliable-even though it is painful.
For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].
Ephesians 2:10 AMP
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