Life's Color Contrast: A Devotional Thought

I know that my redeemer lives,

and that in the end he will stand on the earth.

And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Job 19: 25-27

Many times in the creation of a quilt, color contrast plays a key role. High contrast is used to make a block "pop" from the background. Other times, shades of colors are used with low contrast for a very neat effect. I'm currently working on a quilt that looks very different when I use high vs. low contrast fabrics. It's fascinating to see how just changing the colors can change the entire feel for the quilt.

Life can be like a quilt with lots of contrast. We have dark moments in life... we also have very light moments. Our life moments are just like pieces in a quilt. The dark pieces (or moments) make the light pieces "pop" and vice versa. Quilters have to have both, just like we have dark and light moments.

Leading up to the Job 19:25, Job had some very dark moments. He lost his wealth, health, family and friends. But though all those dark moments he was able to understand that that's all they were... moments. He understood that what really mattered was staying faithful God. He was able to see past the dark moments and see the whole picture. "In the end..." he states, knowing that when all is said and done God will win and he places all his hope in that fact.

As a quilter I yearn for the finished quilt. I imagine it as I read the pattern and cut the fabric and sew it together. This yearning for something that doesn't exist yet... is a good way to think about our faith. Job describes it as, "my heart yearns within me!" Just like yearning for the finished quilt keeps me working through the difficult parts... our hearts should yearn for God. That is what will see us through the dark moments in our lives and keep us pressing toward the goal of eternal life with our heavenly father.