Today we welcome Beth Andrews to One Ringing Bell. She is a fairly new blogger whom I met through my own blog and came to appreciate her heartfelt posts.
By Beth Andrews
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
By Beth Andrews
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
God is the perfect Crafter. We see that when we look
around us. Nature attests to His awesome creative talent, with azure blue
skies, majestic mountains, stunning sunsets, and brilliant fall leaves. Wouldn’t
you love to see His artist’s palette with all those wonderful colors?
God is also crafting the lives of those who love Him. He
is adding light here and shadow there, a splash of joy, broad strokes of
wonder, and accents of peace amid dark shades of sorrow and heartache. All
in perfect balance and harmony. All to create a masterpiece with your life
and mine.
Years ago (when I had more time and better eyesight), I was
an avid cross-stitcher. One day, as I was working on an intricate design –
a mixture of dark, light, and metallics – I flipped the fabric over to
finish off a row of stitching, and saw the reverse side of my work. It was
a mess of knots, tangles, and threads crossing from side to side, looking
nothing like the picture that was forming on top.
That is when the Holy Spirit revealed a precious truth to
me: My life is like that cross-stitch picture. While I only see the bottom
of the piece, with all my imperfections, sorrows, hurts and questions, God is
working on the top, and He sees the beautiful picture He is creating from the master
design He has planned. God sees how brilliantly
the gold and silver threads of His majesty and glory stand out against the dark
places in my life. Isn’t that the purpose of my life--to make much of God, to
glorify Him and show His beauty to the dark world?
From the Old Testament account of Job’s life comes this
lament, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, they come to an end
without hope” (Job 7:6). If I could take Job by the hand, I would tell
him, as I tell myself and you, that when God is the Weaver, there is always
hope.
That season we see as darkness and struggle and pain, in the
hands of the Master Weaver, could prove to be the richest season in our lives. This
is the heart behind Romans 8:28: “We know that in all things God works for the
good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” God
is working the pattern of your life and mine according to His will – “His good,
pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2). Will you trust the design of your
life to the hands of the Master Craftsman?
Master Creator, You have spoken a word to my heart: “Child,
if you only knew – the pattern I am using as I craft your life in the image of
My Perfect Son. Trust Me beloved.”
Beth Andrews is a Christian, wife, mom, Bible study teacher,
Seminary student, speaker and aspiring writer. Her family lives in
North Florida, though Alabama is home. She recently retired after 30 years
in church administration to pursue seminary studies and to devote herself fully
to the Word of God in studying, teaching, and writing. She has come to love God’s
Word and finds the sweetest joy in studying, writing, and teaching about the
Bible. Her roots have grown stronger in His Word, thus the title of her
blog – “Deeper Roots” which you may visit here.