God's Perfect Design

About 9 years ago Davina & I sat down with a realtor for a new subdivision in our area and picked out a set of plans. We had several different floor plans to choose from. Each set had their own pros and cons. Finally we settled on one but to make it perfect for us, we requested some changes to the plans which they were willing to make. Add a bay window here, delete a door way there, a closet here, a storage area there and finally our design was perfect. Or we thought it was perfect 9 years ago when they began construction. But after 8 1/2 years of residence in our perfect design, we've discovered a lot of things that if we had opportunity to do it all over again, we'd do it differently. Nothing major - but my wife would have preferred a pantry, maybe an island in the kitchen, bigger bathrooms, a walk-in closet. If I'd had it do again, I would have spent the extra money to build the garage instead of just trying to get by with what we had. Like I said, nothing major, just the realization that what we thought was once a perfect design, over time has become, shall we say, flawed, imperfect, less than what we thought it was going to be.

It's not that we are easily dissatisfied or even hard-to-please - it's just that we have the same issue as all the rest of humanity. Because we are flawed, we are incapable of creating perfection. We are incapable of discovering on our own a perfect pattern. But God never makes mistakes. His pattern is flawless. His plans are incapable of error. He creates a perfect design. Unlike us, He has the advantage of seeing how it is all going to turn out. And so He knows that we'll need a closet here or a larger bathroom there or a large front porch or a patio out back. According to scripture, He knows what we have need of before we even ask and so when He lays out the pattern for us, He builds what is necessary for us into our life, EVEN when we don't know why it's been drawn on the pattern in that particular spot.

God has always been into patterns. Patterns are important and they are found throughout the Bible. In Genesis, God used a pattern to create the universe. He set in the sky a sun that controlled the day and a moon that controlled the night. These two large objects still remain in the sky operating according to the same pattern that God designed in the very beginning. It is a perfect pattern that controls seasons, weather, sunrises, sunsets, wave patterns, animal migrations, etc. God set a pattern in order and it is fool proof - everyday the sun rises, the sun sets, the earth rotates on its axis creating a perfect 24 hour day.

When God got fed up with His creation, He gave Noah a pattern - a perfect pattern to navigate the stormy waters and save not only his family but an entire zoo of animals. When Israel found themselves trapped in Egypt, God gave a pattern to Moses that became known as Passover. He was exact in His instructions as to the preparation of the Passover meal, how it was to be prepared and eaten and how the blood was to be applied. If the pattern was followed exactly, deliverance would come to those households that obeyed. It was a perfect pattern for deliverance. After delivering an entire nation out of the clutches of an Egyptian Pharaoh, he gave Moses a pattern for a tabernacle in the wilderness. This pattern for the tabernacle in the wilderness was a flawless design that went from a physical pattern in the Old Testament to a spiritual pattern in the New Testament, ultimately providing for our salvation and access to the very presence and power of Jesus Christ. 2000 years ago, Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the exact pattern of the passover lamb. His death, burial and resurrection, becomes an exact pattern which when we follow, through repentance, water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ and the infilling of His Spirit, gives us access to the amazing gift of salvation. God operates in patterns.

If patterns are this important to God, doesn't it stand to reason that God has a pattern for the lives of every individual in His kingdom. I am convinced that Jesus drew up a blue print for my life and for your life and the life that He is constructing is a flawless design. His design is perfect - it has everything that I will ever need built into the plan. He knows every trial I'll face. He knows every obstacle I'll need to clear. He knows every mountain I'll need to climb. He knows every river and every valley I'll need to cross. He is very much aware of every struggle and every pain that will come into my life, long before I ever had to face it. And because He did, He compensated for EVERY hurdle with a part of the design. Those items that you thought must have been flaws, must have been mistakes, are simply God's way of preparing us for those things that we'll face later in life. He has prepared for every thing that we will face - He included it in HIS design.

So today - are you facing things? Probably. Are you going through some stuff? More than likely. It's not because God has made a mistake. It's not because God's plan is flawed. It's not because His pattern is imperfect. It's simply that He's seen a little farther down the road than you have. What feels like pain right now is just a design on the blue print that is going to give you victory tomorrow. What feels like a hurdle today, is simply a spot on the plan that calls for some extra reinforcement for the JOY that you will need tomorrow. After all he promised that the weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Or as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17, ". . . For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a for more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. . ." So don't judge God's plan now - know that His design is flawless and therefore this affliction is just for a moment - it's actually working for us, giving us an exceeding and eternal treasure. It's only a little while before we see the completed project. We can't see it right now - because as Paul described it, it's look like looking through a darkened piece of glass - but eventually we'll look our Designer in the face and when we see HIM our perfect design will be complete. And we'll understand it all - better by and by.

Keep your chin up - the plan is perfect - the design is flawless and the life God is building in you will be perfected in HIS timing. Until next time, keep working God's pattern in your life and let Him get glory out of you - God bless - Love you all - RP