"Buh-na-na!" the toddler called out, twisting her body and squirming in my arms to reach for a banana on the counter. Her blonde curls bounced as she wiggled in my arms, acting as if the banana was a piece of chocolate cake. I grabbed the banana, carefully un-peeling it and exposing a slightly overripe banana. The tip of the banana was bruised. I was prepared to scrape off the bad spot and hand the rest of it over to the little girl when she chimed up cheerfully, "It's a chocolate buh-na-na." I smiled, loving how I saw a bruise, but she saw something completely different. I didn't give it a second thought, but she was fascinated by it.
I love how we can look at something and see one thing, but God sees something completely different. We may look at ourselves with disgust, wishing we could scrape away the bruised parts of our life and erase them, but God knows that even in those spots, His grace is sufficient for us. He can take even our most bruised spots and use them for His glory, if we let Him. Isaiah 64:8 says, "Yet You, Lord, our are Father. We are the clay, You are the potter: we are all the work of Your hand."
We have been carefully crafted, the workmanship of God. He's forming us daily into who He wants us to become. The next time you wish you could scrape away a certain part of your life, remember that God can form even that into a way to glorify Him. He isn't confined by boxes, He is amazing at taking something we view as bad and slowly shaping it into a masterpiece.
Kayla Joy
