I have always been entranced by the image in my mind when I think of the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors...and two things really stand out in that story for me...one was the coat itself, how beautiful it must have been, and imagining how it must have looked...and the other was that Joseph was the favorite child, because he was the child of Israel's old age...and that so reminds me of our love.
Before I met you, I felt bereft and alone, more like an orphan than a child of God… and the more I struggled on my own to create meaning and order in my life, the more it got out of control. At last, in my despair, I dragged the whole mess I'd made and laid it at Jesus' feet. I begged for His help, for forgiveness and love, and turned my life over to Him…whatever He wanted, I resolved I would do, for I knew in my heart that whatever it was, it would be a better solution than mine.
He smiled at me, and my small gift of faith and trust, and His love brought me comfort and joy.... He let me know that not only was I a child of God, I was a favorite child, so much loved. He gently wiped away my tears, soothed the pain, washed away the despair, and filled my new heart with hope and with joy, and He took me by the hand, and brought me to you, showed me the new life we have together in him.
And I felt as if I was clothed in that coat of many colors...stripes bright and pastel, shining in the sun.... there was the red stripes of love, the brightest of all, and gentle blue ones to symbolize hope...there was the gold of joy, and the green of delight, and pink for the tender words of love. And I realized as I hugged that coat close around me, that God's gifts to me were so true...I was a favorite child, dressed in that lovely coat, and He'd given me my heart's fulfillment in you.
Every day in my mind's eye, I see that wondrous coat, and the stripes of color remind me to find yet new ways to tell you of my love, to show you how you fill my heart. So every day I gather up a rainbow of devotion, all the colors and shades of my love, and I give them, and my heart, to you.
Yes Ma'am... you are most certainly, highly favored, the apple of your Father's eye. I don't guess I've ever seen that coat's colors broken down that way. Very impressive work of art here!
