FORMED & KNOWN
The table saw buzzed as the small blade moved up and down at light speed. I carefully, and with skilled hands, guided the plank of wood through, making small turns to follow the curve of the template that we had drawn on with a pencil. It’s our newest craft project for Christmas. Once the shapes were cut from the wood then the staining, painting, drilling and gluing could commence. Each step well thought out and planned. Each step required attention to detail. Christmas is a time when so many “Do It Yourselfers” begin their creative journeys in making special things for others as gifts.
Forming or creating something takes great love and time. It takes focus and, as I said before, attention to detail. As the creator, you know your project backward and forward, inside and out. You know which parts were the hardest to get right so you took extra care with that step. If some part broke, you would know exactly how to fix it because you formed it or made it. When you have taken the time to create something that you are proud of, it hurts a little more when it gets broken. Be honest, you get a little angry when others don’t handle with care the thing you spent so much time putting together. This Holiday season as my friend and I have been crafting, I have thought about how God had skillfully and carefully created so many wonderful things for us to enjoy. Gifts that He has given us freely every day. In the very beginning, God created the earth, the heavens, the lights in the sky and he separated the waters. He formed all of the different plants, flowers, and trees. He made every kind of animal that moves on the ground, the birds that fly in the air and every creature that lives in the water. Then God made his ultimate creation; the one He is most in love with – man. Genesis 2:7 says that “the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature.” As a crafter, I imagine God scooping up the dust and molding it in his gentle hands, careful to get everything just right. When He finished, I can see Him laying his powerful hands, tenderly, along the sides of Adam’s face and breathing lightly into his nostrils – the breath of life. Oh, the joy God must have felt when Adam opened his eyes and stood for the first time. After creating man and woman, God looked at them and all He created and said: “it is very good.” (Genesis 1:31) He loved what He saw; what He created.
God says of each of us; “I have knit you together (formed you) in your mother’s womb. Your frame was not hidden from me when you were being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. I have written in my book every single day that was formed for you, even before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16) Did you catch that word “intricately”? As creator, God knows every inch of your body, inside and out. He knows how you were formed; how you were knit together. So then, it would make sense that, as the creator, if something in you became broken, He would be the only one who could truly “fix” you. It would also make sense that, as the creator, God would be heartbroken over the carelessness of another’s handling of you that resulted in you being “broken or damaged.” As Christmas approaches and you are looking for gifts to give to others, think of the love, care and time that went into making them, whether you were the creator or someone else was. As you consider these gifts, I would ask you to then go and stand before a mirror and really look at yourself with the realization that you were made with infinitely more love and care and attention to detail and design than anything else in this world. You are God’s greatest creation, His most valued treasure in all that He has created. He has made you to be a gift to others. Have you thanked Him today for the way He has crafted you?
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What a beautiful Christmas message!!! Keep them coming, Lisa!!
Wow, that’s really a wonderful message. Good job Lisa.