Mosaic Musings

” And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple.” 1 Peter 2:5

While working on a piece of artwork recently, I could not help but reflect, once again, on the correlation between stained glass mosaic and the Christian life. I was using a pair of nippers to break a sheet of glass into usable shapes for the art-piece I was working on and I began to see how certain situations in my life required God’s spiritual nippers to cut away what hindered me from being used by the Holy Spirit. Have you ever been in that place? That place where you want to be used by God to advance the Kingdom, but in order to be utilized  you have to be willing to be broken? At that point we have a choice to make; we can submit to the breaking which most certainly will be painful, or we can resist which might keep us safe but will also render us useless. I don’t know about you but I would rather be broken and used for the glory of God than be “all put together” and set aside on the shelf.

As I was gathering supplies for my project I selected sheets of colored glass that I felt would work well together. As beautiful as the glass was in sheet form, it was useless to me until I broke it into the sizes and shapes that would accommodate my purpose. It is the same in the Kingdom. We need to allow the Master Artist to break us and to place us where He wants us. I thought of how sometimes we are called to certain ministries that we might not have chosen for ourselves, but when we submit and settle into where He places us we can see how well it fits.

One of the things I love about working with stained glass mosaic is that you never really know how a piece will look until you are finished. I always have an idea in my head how a project will look. But as I fit the pieces together making adjustments as I go the piece evolves; sometimes turning out completely different than I imagined. My life is the same way. If you had asked me when I got married what our life together would look like, my answer would not, in any way, resemble the relationship my husband and I have today. There has been brokenness, and grinding of rough edges and repositioning of pieces.  It has been painful at times but it has resulted in something so much better  and more beautiful than I could have ever imagined.

As I polished my finished artwork and rubbed away the bits of grout that stubbornly clung to the glass I couldn’t help but smile.  I smiled because I know that my God will take His polishing cloth and rub away all the sin and darkness in my life so that when He is finished and I stand before His throne I will reflect His glory.

So I ask you, “Are you willing to be used?” Will you let Him take you off the shelf, break you, place you where He chooses and polish you? Will you let the Master Artist have His way with you? I promise, He makes all things beautiful. 

“I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

– Cindi Beauman