Don’t you just love the way the ordinary, every day, and sometimes even the ugly things in life suddenly become exquisite and beautiful when we view them through the lens of God’s grace?
Like the way a wildflower can beam with glory. Or the way a loaf of homemade bread can elicit feelings of comfort and security. The way the stars speak to something infinitely bigger and greater and other-worldly.
Like the way the hard days of life reveal His love and build us up into His likeness. Or the way rejection and fear can drive us to our knees in His presence.
Jesus makes all things new and beautiful just by His very presence. This photo always reminds me of the transforming power of God’s grace and mercy.
A few years ago, these beads, carefully made out of discarded strips of magazine paper, hung daintily under a wooden pavilion in a village in Northern Uganda as I passed by with my camera. Yards and yards of beads were drying on a hot Ugandan day, waiting to be strung into necklaces, bracelets, earrings… into final works of art.
They were so beautiful, and I was mesmerized by the way my African friends were able to create such beautiful jewelry out of such ordinary materials. But isn’t that what God does every day?
He takes our lives — broken and discarded — and refashions them through the power of His Spirit into works of art… beauty that declares His name!
God, would you take my ordinary creations, infuse them with the beauty of your presence and purpose, and use them to tell the story of your everyday grace?
Pingback: caught up in grace. |