Encouragement

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To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3

This past week I had a chance conversation with a college student. As we talked, she told me that she's majoring in criminal justice and had been thinking about going to law school. She shared that she had doubts about law school because so many people had told her that law school was really hard and there was no guarantee that she'd have a good life once she became a lawyer.

This statement opened up the opportunity for me to share with this young sister some of my experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly. I also told her that there are no guarantees that she would have a good life as a lawyer or as anything else. However, if she always chose to give God first place in her life, He would be there for her during the good times and the bad. I ended our conversation by telling her that I have a good life and that through everything I've experienced, God has made it beautiful.

As I shared those last few words, I found myself smiling because I truly believed what I had said. My life doesn't look the way I thought it would, but God is making it more beautiful for Him every day.

Our lives can be compared to a tapestry. Look on the back of most tapestries and you will see a jumble of threads and knots. It's not real pretty. However, when you look at the front, you'll see a beautiful picture. All the threads make sense when you see the finished product.

If someone looked at our lives, I imagine that what they see might look like a jumble of threads and knots too. However, as Believers, God can turn our messed up, jumbled up lives into something beautiful.

There's an old song that says, "I wouldn't trade nothing for my journey." Everything we go through in life, helps us become the women of God He wants us to be. It's through the times of jumbled threads and knots that our beautiful pictures are being made.

Your life may be different from what you thought it would be - divorce, childlessness, unemployment, illness, etc. - but God is still making it beautiful. He is the only One who can clothe you with a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair and place on your head a crown of beauty instead of ashes. He is crafting your life into a beautiful picture.

My Challenge to You:
Take a look at your life's tapestry. How is God using the jumbles and knots on the back to develop your life into a beautiful picture today? Remember that "beautiful" doesn't mean perfect or even pretty. In this instance it means "bringing God glory."

© 2007 Joyce M. Averils

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But here is what you MUST include: Joyce M. Averils, is a Bible Teacher/Speaker/Coach and author of The Busy Woman's Prayer Journal - My Guide to Daily Communications with God. Get your free mini-Bible Study, "The Beauty Trap - Where Do You Get Your Self-Worth?" at http://www.RefreshYourFaith.com

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