Several years ago, I saw the most beautiful mosaic as I walked into the church from the foyer. The church was near the Sea of Galilee. The mosaic was the first thing I noticed. From a distance, all the pieces formed a harmonious image. I stood at the back for a while, to take it all in. I moved a little closer, about half way. As I approached, the pieces began to stand out. It was still easy to see the intent of the art. But, the pieces were now taking on their own identity. I got even closer. Now, I was only ten feet away. I could easily see each piece of the mosaic. The whole image was more difficult to discern. I got close enough to touch the wall. I saw each piece of the mosaic so individually that I had lost the image that they once made.
The pieces of the mosaic were truly unique. None of them possessed shared symmetry. One piece was brown. Another would be blue. One piece might almost be square. Another would be not quite triangular. There were long pieces, short pieces, glass pieces, and more. Some of the pieces were beautiful. Some of them didn’t even deserve to be trampled under foot on a dirt road. Some looked polished. Others were ragged and ugly.
“Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity,” (Job 2:10). If you are wondering about the context of this, let me help. Job had also just stated, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord,” (Job 1:21). Job had just encountered the most difficult time of his life. And now, he is accepting the bad because he knows that God is still good. The debate here is not does God allow or does God dish out bad things for our long-term benefit. It seems obvious if he states it so plainly. Job says specifically that we must learn to accept bad from God if we are going to willingly receive the good from God. The next question you have to ask yourself is, “If the bad we receive from the hand of God makes us more like Him, then is it really bad.” Humans don’t often respond to warnings. They almost always respond to consequences. This does not imply that bad things only occur when we do wrong. It would be wrong to ever imply that. Bad things often occur when we don’t see the future. God may have brought bad times to help us avoid worse times. Bad times drive us more deeply into the heart of God. Or, He may have brought pain for an even greater purpose. But, this isn’t even my main concern.
My biggest concern is whether or not we began to accept the good and the bad as a means to live fully in the reality of who God made us to be. It is simple to live in the good moments. It is no challenge at all to accomplish this. But, to live in the bad moments, now that’s a challenge. But, we are never more like Christ than when we live in the most difficult times of our lives.
God is creating a masterpiece with our lives. We are His kids. In the same way that God loves pouring out good things on us, He also has to put up roadblocks. The crazy part is that He does all of this with great care. He carefully places each piece of the mosaic in our lives. We like to think that we are artists placing the pieces of our lives where we want them. But, it’s not true. God puts all the pieces in place. There are days, and even seasons, when He uses beautiful pieces. He carefully places those. There are times, and even seasons, when He uses ugly pieces – We question His judgment in these times. We wonder why is it necessary to have the ugly pieces in our masterpieces. He places these as carefully as he did the beautiful pieces. The Artist never wearies. Moment by moment He is making us just as He planned from the beginning.
I don’t see it today. But, I own all of it. “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,” (Philippians 1:6). God is faithfully putting me together good and bad. I am becoming a mosaic work of art. If someone were to look closely he or she might see some beautiful pieces. Likewise, he or she might see some ugly pieces, pieces I don’t want to share. God sees the work of art that He is creating. I like to imagine sometimes how the mosaic of my life will look when I see it completed. I want to stand back and admire it from a distance. Then, I want to get close, run my fingers across the jagged and ugly pieces, and smile. Who knew that I was a masterpiece?
The pieces of the mosaic were truly unique. None of them possessed shared symmetry. One piece was brown. Another would be blue. One piece might almost be square. Another would be not quite triangular. There were long pieces, short pieces, glass pieces, and more. Some of the pieces were beautiful. Some of them didn’t even deserve to be trampled under foot on a dirt road. Some looked polished. Others were ragged and ugly.
“Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity,” (Job 2:10). If you are wondering about the context of this, let me help. Job had also just stated, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord,” (Job 1:21). Job had just encountered the most difficult time of his life. And now, he is accepting the bad because he knows that God is still good. The debate here is not does God allow or does God dish out bad things for our long-term benefit. It seems obvious if he states it so plainly. Job says specifically that we must learn to accept bad from God if we are going to willingly receive the good from God. The next question you have to ask yourself is, “If the bad we receive from the hand of God makes us more like Him, then is it really bad.” Humans don’t often respond to warnings. They almost always respond to consequences. This does not imply that bad things only occur when we do wrong. It would be wrong to ever imply that. Bad things often occur when we don’t see the future. God may have brought bad times to help us avoid worse times. Bad times drive us more deeply into the heart of God. Or, He may have brought pain for an even greater purpose. But, this isn’t even my main concern.
My biggest concern is whether or not we began to accept the good and the bad as a means to live fully in the reality of who God made us to be. It is simple to live in the good moments. It is no challenge at all to accomplish this. But, to live in the bad moments, now that’s a challenge. But, we are never more like Christ than when we live in the most difficult times of our lives.
God is creating a masterpiece with our lives. We are His kids. In the same way that God loves pouring out good things on us, He also has to put up roadblocks. The crazy part is that He does all of this with great care. He carefully places each piece of the mosaic in our lives. We like to think that we are artists placing the pieces of our lives where we want them. But, it’s not true. God puts all the pieces in place. There are days, and even seasons, when He uses beautiful pieces. He carefully places those. There are times, and even seasons, when He uses ugly pieces – We question His judgment in these times. We wonder why is it necessary to have the ugly pieces in our masterpieces. He places these as carefully as he did the beautiful pieces. The Artist never wearies. Moment by moment He is making us just as He planned from the beginning.
I don’t see it today. But, I own all of it. “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,” (Philippians 1:6). God is faithfully putting me together good and bad. I am becoming a mosaic work of art. If someone were to look closely he or she might see some beautiful pieces. Likewise, he or she might see some ugly pieces, pieces I don’t want to share. God sees the work of art that He is creating. I like to imagine sometimes how the mosaic of my life will look when I see it completed. I want to stand back and admire it from a distance. Then, I want to get close, run my fingers across the jagged and ugly pieces, and smile. Who knew that I was a masterpiece?
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