Back in the days when I sewed my own clothes, I always found
making buttonholes tricky. Even with the modern sewing machine (back in the
day), which had a ‘button-holer’, the fabric needed to be positioned with
greater accuracy than I always had.
Mom used to make a different kind of button hole sometimes.
I think they were called raglan button holes. I never graduated to that degree
of expertise.
But last night, as I prayed, in my mind’s eye I saw a raglan
buttonhole, beautifully made, but not cut through. It looked perfect, but it
was still useless for joining two bits of a garment together, because it
remained intact and uncut. That final step – the cutting through perfectly-good
fabric in order to achieve a new join – is a nerve-wracking move to make.
God has made each of us just as he wants us. In his sight,
we are perfectly made. We are like the perfectly formed raglan buttonholes that
Mom used to make. It is as life’s challenges and sorrows cut into us, though,
that we become useful to God, and to others. As we walk through the tough times
with him, the fabric of our lives is rent. It is uncomfortable, painful. But as
we remain close to him, depending on him for our next steps, people around us
glimpse the beauty of God’s presence and the faithfulness of his love, and
they, too can be joined to him. Buttoned into eternal life.
May I yield myself to the divine tailor today, willing to be
cut into so that others can know his perfect love.
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