Have you ever heard the phrase, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear"? Well, we may not be able to do this ourselves, but if we allow God to take our lives and mold us into what he wants us to be, we can become a silk purse.
In my own life, I have not yet become a silk purse, but I hope that by the end of my life, I can reflect and look back and say, "Yes! God has finally accomplished making me into a shiny, soft, and smooth silk purse with golden threads and gemstones sewn into its design." We all start out not so pretty, like a sow's ear. Abuse, pain, heartaches, disease, and troubles of all kinds disfigure us and keep us from becoming the beautiful pocketbook that God wants us to be. God wants us to allow Him to stitch up our broken hearts, mend our torn seams, and even sometimes cut out our bitterness or anger. All of these things can be painful, but cutting anger and bitterness out of our hearts hurts especially when we have been holding onto these for a long time. If we allow God's love to be sewn into our hearts, He can change our hearts and take away the pain that has caused our anger and bitterness.
Letting go of bitterness is one of the many struggles and recent life lessons God is mending in my life. Forgiving even when the person who has hurt you hasn't asked for forgiveness is another. Through these sewing lessons, I am learning that if I put my hope in God and the abundant future that He has promised, then it is so much easier to forgive and to pray for those who have hurt me. And so with a little bit of choking on each word, and reminding myself that God has good things for me too, God has started to hear a change in the direction of my prayers for those who have hurt me. I don't know where they are spiritually, but I know we all need prayer to grow closer to God, the one who has created us. I am praying for their forgiveness because I'm not always right either, their happiness, their wisdom in making choices, and most of all for their hearts to follow Christ.
Following Christ and allowing God to stitch His needles and thread through our lives can feel a bit prickly at times. Even though it can be painful, what we have to remember is that in the end, God's designs for each of us will make us into beautiful silk purses, prettier than we can imagine. And so for all of us in the shadows of a silk purse, just waiting to see God's artistic display, I pray for you and for me that God's prickly needle creates a beautiful and elaborate design, a unique design that reflects Jesus' love and forgiveness for us all.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. (NASB)
