Sing a song of Joy, for you were created a special and unique individual by Almighty God! He knew what He was doing in creating you and there is no one else alive who is exactly like you. Even twins who are identical in their appearance, are still individual, unique and special to God! You too, no matter what your position in life is at this time, are special to Him. He loves you individually and personally. When we come to that point in our lives when we recognize that God's love and acceptance are ours, for our strengths as well as our weaknesses, only then can we be free to become what God intended us to be. No one in this world is an accident, even though we might have thought so. We have each been planned, and fit into an overall pattern.

One of my regrets in life was that I could never seem to get the hang of sewing. It became quite obvious to me though that a guide sheet for any project was imperative in order to complete the job properly. The same is true with our lives. We need a guide sheet to give us direction, and to show us step by step what we are to do and how we can successfully come to completion. In God's great wisdom, He has provided our guide sheet, in the Holy Bible, to show us in detail, how we may become like our pattern. What a joy personally that is to me to know that He cares that much! 

The idea for the pattern itself comes from it's original designer; in our case, and for our purposes, that person is God. His idea, His pattern, was since the beginning of time. God came in the form of man to be our material, to show us the original pattern and what it was to be like. Each of us has our own God given materials that are unique only to us, and they are a precious gift of God. We have not all been given the exact same materials, with the same colors, the same weight or the same design. 

Could you imagine looking into your closet and seeing every outfit being exactly alike? All with the same material, the same shape and same color? It would be boring wouldn't it? Just as you have various outfits for different occasions and varied activities, so God has intended each of us to fulfill a very unique and special purpose for His Kingdom that no one else could ever do, just as we would do it. 

Let's all look at our own unique individual patterns. Where do you put yourself on the outfits of the world? I have known so many people who looked at themselves, and maybe thought that they were only a very plain and basic blouse and skirt, when they wanted so much to be a wedding dress. Stop and think a minute, how many times do you wear a wedding dress? Once maybe? Did you ever notice the comments made at a wedding? "Oh isn't her dress beautiful?" "It is magnificent isn't it?" All the money, the hours of preparation and work, to wear once and then to be packed away, maybe never to be worn again. "The Bride was lovely." Yes, it served it's purpose well. It was worn at the appropriate time and place. It fulfilled the use for which it was intended. How exciting! 

Now, try and imagine that same satin and lace wedding gown, going down the isle and it is made of burlap, with a long canvas train. Sounds funny doesn't it? The same affect would take place if a plumber came to clear out your sewer lines in coveralls made of white satin with a lace utility belt. How many of us are doing the same things with our own lives? We are either so busy trying to be something we are not, or we are constantly complaining about what we are, or what we have or don't have, that we are not allowing God to fulfill His ultimate purpose in our lives. 

Let's take a look at a plain line skirt and blouse. It can be used day after day, again and again, either dressed up, or dressed down, just to suit the occasion. It shows off the person wearing it and not the dress itself.  That too is what we are to do. The object of our lives should be to Glorify God and not ourselves. How do we do that? First, and most important, is to thank God for the materials He has given us. We need to thank Him for the completed pattern that He wants us to be, and for the pattern we are going to be, with His help and directions.  

Please let each of us take the priceless materials God has given us and carry them to the foot of His Almighty throne and ask Him to guide us with them. Let's take God's pattern prayerfully and carefully, following it, as we start to become exactly what we were meant to be. Each of us trying to be the very best God meant us to be. It has been said that, "What you are is God's gift to you and what you become is your gift to God." 

Now we have to search His guide sheet daily and follow it exactly. When you make a mistake in sewing, you rip it apart and start over. Depending on the material and the degree of the mistakes, you can start again or re-fix it. The exciting part about God, is that when we make a mistake in the patterns of our lives, He either chooses to make our material fresh and new, or He uses the mistake, or flaw, in such a unique way as to make the finished piece more valuable than it should have been originally. Our patterns can be used of God, dressed up with His accessories, in the courts of kings, or dressed down to accommodate the crying emptiness of wine-soaked derelicts.  
Lets give God our materials to use as He sees fit. As each of us trust Him, He will guide us into opportunities of use far beyond our own comprehension. 

Using a pattern and material, you can do nothing unless you also have the thread. The thread is of greatest importance in placing and holding our outfit together. Whether you use a modern sewing machine or stitch by hand with a needle, you have to have the thread in order to do anything with all of the parts or pieces. The same is true of our spiritual walks! It is the Holy Spirit in our lives that does the controlling, and makes us hold our spiritual shapes. 

Again I ask, that with me, you give God your materials, accepting your strengths, as well as your weaknesses, asking Him to guide and direct the overall pattern of your life, as the Holy Spirit forms and shapes you into exactly what He wants you to be. 

Remember:  YOU are special to God; unique, and here to serve a purpose that can only be done by you, in your own very special way. Does that make you want to sing out for Joy? It does me!