God's Design

As I drove toward the west one evening to meet some friends for dinner, I was heading into a beautiful sunset. The pattern the clouds made against a sky of hot pink, gold, and purple was so lovely and satisfying. Then I noticed the jet paths that cut across that beautiful design and reflected, That is just how man is—we always mess up God’s stuff!

Then I observed how the edges of the jet paths were being blurred by the wind until they began to merge with the clouds and form a part of the pattern, becoming indistinguishable from the original. And I thought, That’s just how God is. He takes our mistakes, our mess-ups, our defiant marks cutting across His design, and works with them patiently until they become intricately interwoven into that design, not destroying it, but enhancing it.

Thank you, Father, for continually turning the ugly into the beautiful, despair into hope, grief into joy, disappointment into triumph. You design, paint, and sculpt tirelessly, working toward the desired result. Help us submit willingly and gracefully to the work of your hands, rejoicing in this creative process.

"For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work
in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus…for it is God who is
at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure."
--- Philippians 1:6 & 2:13