A few years ago, I completed an intricate cross stitch. It was a beautiful scene of a church in winter in the style of Thomas Kinkade. The use of gold and yellow gave the appearance of light in the windows and the lanterns above the doorway. This served as a great contrast to the church itself, which was created using many shades of the same color. However, the greatest contrast would appear later.
After finishing this, I decided to give it as a gift, but I needed to frame it first. As I went to place it in the frame, I placed the beautiful image face down, leaving the back to face me. How ugly it was! I remember hoping that the recipient would never take this out of the frame. I never wanted them to see the ugly side.
Colored floss crossed their way in every direction, heaps of knots loomed, and random mistakes I knew I had made seemed to shine among them all. It was a garbled mess.
Maria Von Trapp said:
“It will be very interesting one day to follow the pattern of our life as it is spread out like a beautiful tapestry. As long as we live here we see only the reverse side of the weaving, and very often the pattern, with its threads running wildly, doesn’t seem to make sense. Someday, however, we shall understand. In looking back over the years we can discover how a red thread goes through the pattern of our life: the Will of God.”
The back of the cross stitch, in all of its terrible, distorted glory, is like our lives. It’s our bad, old habits, our sins, our faults, our failed attempts at devising our own plans, and everything in between.
Yet, if you look at the other side, you see a beautiful pattern. A pattern designed perfectly for each one of us. Even though we may have taken paths in every direction or even got stuck and knotted a few times, God can still make new patterns out of old habits.
It is He who sits on the throne who said, “Behold, I am making all things new” Revelation 21:5
Trust in Him to take all of your bad, old habits, sins, faults, failed attempts at devising your own plans, and everything in between, and to turn them into a new pattern – a new beautiful creation for the sake of His glory.
Raelyn Pracht 