Sore thumbs

Back when I was in college, I took a weaving class and was working on a Navaho loom.  I was weaving a scene of rolling hills with a small lake in the middle.  Working from the bottom up, I came to the middle of the lake and put in a small strip of white yarn. The rest of the scene was muted greens and blues so the small bright spot, at the time, did not fit the color scheme.

My instructor kept telling me to take the strip out because it stuck out like a sore thumb, but I kept it in for a reason.  Finally near the top of the scene, I added another strip, brighter than the first to represent the sun. She then understood what I was doing and the sore thumb had a purpose in the overall picture.  In fact, the picture would not have been complete without it. 

We all have “sore thumbs” cropping up, unexpectedly in our lives, and they are for a reason.  Like Joseph in the book of Genesis who was sold by his jealous brothers to traders heading for Egypt, he understood many years later that what the brothers meant for bad, God meant for good.

“Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But his brothers were not able to answer him, because they were terrified at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt!  And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.  For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.  But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” Gen. 45: 3-7

Can I remember this lesson the next time a sore thumb comes to disrupt “my” plans?  If I do, the pain or the inconvenience I feel at the time will be much easier to bear when I also look forward to seeing how God uses it to do something amazing!