Mar
3
2015
Vibrant Colors In A Monochromatic World
Posted in Evangelism 4 Comments
My husband just returned from Guatemala.
He was there for over two weeks building houses.
He takes one trip a year to volunteer and build homes for others.
He has built homes both nationally and internationally.
On this trip, he bought a beautiful hand woven mantel.
Made by a woman who sits on her knees for eight hours a day.
Each piece is unique and woven with vibrant colors.
Each symbol on the mantel represents a significant part of the country.
Our mantel has two beautiful birds on the front.
The birds are quetzals, the national symbol of Guatemala.
A picture of the coffee plant is intricately woven on the fabric.
Symbols for a river and a road are part of the picture as well.
The mantel tells a story.
The story is clearly depicted in the vibrant colors the woman chose to use.
All done by hand, the craftsmanship is astounding.
However, not only the front is beautiful, the back is equally lovely.
When my husband turned the mantel over, the two quetzal birds were on the back as well.
There were no strings and knots, as one would usually expect.
All you see is the simple beauty of the birds.
The birds are depicted on the back as clearly as they are depicted on the front.
That is part of the unique skill of this woman.
The design is woven so intricately; it is hard to tell the front of the mantel from the back.
Either side can be displayed.
Each side is as lovely as the other.
How can this be?
How can there be no strings, no telltale sign that there is a front and a back?
How can both sides be equally lovely?
One woman sitting eight hours on her knees created such beauty.
I am not a traveler like my husband.
Something inside him calls him to take these trips every year.
He keeps telling me that I would enjoy talking to the people.
Put a hammer in his hand, put him to work, and he is happy.
Put me with the women and the children and let me hear their stories.
Put me in the towns and in the markets and let me see how they live.
Open my eyes to see the beauty that is beyond my four walls, my town, and my country.
I do not have the same travel angst as my husband, but maybe there is more to it.
Maybe it is not about travel as much as it is about the expanse of the Kingdom.
Maybe the going is really about the sending.
Maybe the place does not matter as much as the reason.
Maybe there are people to meet and conversations both near and far.
I have pondered my reasons for not traveling extensively.
It is not fear as much as it is contentment in the local ministry God has seen fit to give me.
I am pondering what being stretched really means.
I am still thinking about the meaning of that word in terms of evangelism.
There are mission fields in our back yard and in our own neighborhoods, to be sure.
Not everyone is called to go away.
However, everyone is commanded to go and tell.
Go and tell where you are with the gifts you’ve been given.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me,” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:1-8)
When Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord, he was undone.
When Isaiah comprehended the holiness of the Lord, he was speechless.
Isaiah’s sins were atoned for; his guilt was taken away.
And then the question came, followed by the answer.
Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?
Here am I. Send me.
A willingness to be sent.
A willingness to go.
Bringing gifts to others as you have been gifted.
Vibrant colors of God-given gifts meeting the monochromatic world that needs Him.
Intricately designed.
Knitted together by the Master.
Simple. Complicated.
Near. Far.
Beautifully displayed for His splendor.
Kingdom masterpieces.
Men and women on their knees.
To His Glory and for the good of others.
Whom shall I send?
And who will go for us?
Here am I.
Send me.
Stretching beyond ourselves so that others can know Him.
Stretching beyond ourselves so that He is better known.
Obeying the call to be sent, near and far.
Going and telling in vibrant colors about the One who is the Lord.
Beautiful Gina, much to think about…
Sherie,
God uses even a mantel from another country to teach us Truth.
I am glad that you were blessed.
Gina
I’m so glad you posted a picture of the mantel–it IS beautiful! An apt analogy–bringing the beauty and color of God to a bleak, gray world. We all need to be filled with the beauty of Christ living in us so others will see Him.
Sue,
The world so desperately needs His beauty.
What a privilege to be used by Him to bring color to this gray world. Our little bit for His Glory.
Gina