by Desiree Bustamante

We can’t see our whole picture.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking this Sound Cloud link.

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 New Living Translation

Have you ever played the scribble drawing game? Two people draw a large scribble on paper and afterward switch papers. Then you look for shapes or images in the scribble, outlining or coloring in those and adding features to make recognizable images. It might take a little time to find something you can make sense of, but it gets easier with practice.

In this season of Lent, we may reflect on Christ’s sacrifice and its meaning for our lives, remembering times when life seemed like one big scribble that we couldn’t make sense of then or may not make sense even now.  Maybe we regretted our actions toward someone or made a choice that did not go as anticipated. Perhaps an unforeseen event changed everything and was completely out of our control.

Even though we trust that our Lord is in all these moments, we struggle to see anything good come from them. Still, in those scribbles reveal God’s amazing grace-filled love for you, and the purposeful artistry and intentional design of His plans for every one of those events. Those experiences bring you closer to Him and fill you with His wisdom, strengthen your trust in His sovereignty, and help you be the loving, forgiving and kind person to others who need hope, comfort and the light of Christ’s presence.

Lord, help me to know you are working in me and through me even when my life seems like one giant scribble. Especially when I don’t see you in the dark, remind me that you see me and all you created me to be for you and your kingdom. During this season of Lent, help me to reflect on your sacrifice that will always give my scribbled life beauty and purpose. Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado