Learning about holiness from a necklace chain

Have you ever started working on a seemingly insignificant project and had God speak to your heart about something completely different? Yeah, me too.

And so it began...

This morning I was endeavoring to untangle my daughter's necklace chain. Something simple, right? After all, how difficult can it be to undo what has happened by mere happenstance?

Plenty, if you have giant digits compared to a chain that was created by workers endowed with magical, elf-like spindles for fingers.

large fingers...small chain

So I began to think about it and recalled an ancient secret purported to have been developed by hobbits (notorious for having larger than normal fingers and toes) wherein they would gather toothpicks left by rather rude underground dwellers to use as de-tangling tools. 

OK, I actually heard it from others who have had a similar circumstance...so I took heed and gathered some toothpicks.

The tangle taunts me yet a second time.

Now I was ready to undo the damage. I began to wrestle with this tiny chain, attempting to un-knit the tangles that had been so serendipitously constructed. With each attempt, the tangle only seemed to tighten.

The knots closed in on each other with a vengeance. And my patience began to wear thin. Even with these "tools" it was challenging. I was thinking about giving up, but something pushed me forward. Then this word came into my mind. PERSEVERANCE.

The work continues

Perseverance. Interesting. But there was more and more to do so I quickly pushed that word aside and continued on my quest. I would open one section, and another would tangle. As another opened, two more knots would form. I would lift the entire mess from the table and allow gravity to help. But additional knots tightened. I could not catch a break. 

The work dragged on as I began to consider of the delicacy of the chain and the work I was attempting. I could have easily thrown in the towel and purchased a new chain, but that pesky word would not allow it. My thoughts again drifted to something above this seemingly futile exercise.

This chain didn't tangle itself, though it most certainly had been tangled. And since the tangle, it had become unusable. 

Then came this concept...SIN IS A TANGLE THAT RENDERS ME UNUSABLE. No matter how much I would like it to be otherwise,  my own "self" renders me exempt from my original purpose. The more I would loose myself, the tighter the knots become. Each attempt to free myself results in tighter bondage. And I am unable to free myself from that which renders me unusable. 

Sheesh. So now what? I've got a tangle here, people. Not a philosophical tangle, but a very real tangle!

Getting close now...

Well, I kept on going. I was not to be stopped by this chain. I kept considering these thoughts while I fiddled...God's perseverance,  His pursuit of me, the sin in my life that kept me from the purposes He had intended...

As I continued to work this chain, there would be times I gently pulled and other times it was necessary to be more "sincere" with the effort...pressing the knot and pulling harder. In this context of sin, I recall God's gentle grace for certain parts of this walk toward holiness and other times He stood in the path forcing me to face Him and the consequence of my poor behavior and choices. Both of these were for a single purpose...to get out the knot!

Success!

Now the chain was ready. I took the bead that Audrey has been wearing on this chain and returned it to its place. I fastend the clasp and held up the completed work. The project was completed. There it was, doing that for which it was created. And God had snuck up on me.

And I considered this point...the work of God in my life is ongoing. Rescued from the trash heap, untangled and restored, forgiven was the first step. The journey toward holiness is the second and longer part. All of these are set for one ultimate purpose...GOD'S GLORY.

It's His work for His purpose motivated out of His love. It's all about Jesus!

It's for Him!