I bought an old carpet – it was wrecked but oh I loved it; with the faded colours and the rather fashionable worn look, I thought it would go well in my kitchen. But my men had other opinions!
‘You don’t want a carpet in the kitchen’, said my husband. (I did!) Followed closely by ‘It’s a trip hazard!’ from my son. Well I respect my husband and his opinions and I’m definitely not taking on my son, he’s bigger than me!
So I hid this beautiful thing away in the boot of my car – my sacred space! And started to ask a few questions of God, for you see buying this carpet was not just a whim – there was purpose in it and I knew God was speaking to me about something regarding this old thing.
It’s been trodden on you see; walked over. Soiled by years of a use and I suspect has been beaten many a time to get the dust from it. I’m wondering just how much life this carpet has seen as it willingly submitted to years of serving others; of being useful. Unoticed even? It’s certainly worn out that’s for sure. But are it’s days over? I think not.
‘You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly…’ 1 Peter 2:18-24 – NLT
Eventually I took this old rug to the carpet cleaner who, when I apologised about the state of it and suggested I might cut it down to size to make it more useful, gasped at such a shocking idea. It’s valuable you see – he said that it was a true original hand knotted Persian rug, beautiful despite its age; he pointed out the designer’s own hallmark – a pattern used only by Him. Older carpets can be read apparently, offering fascinating insights into their history. He saw all this because he knew what he was looking at.
I feel that this is a picture of how we are seen by God. He knows what He is looking at because He made us, but He sees our journey too, He knows about our pain and what we’ve walked through. He sees how others might have walked over us at times or simply not seen us at all. In this knowing He sees our true worth and however worn and faded we are, we are beautiful. We are valued and loved by Him and I believe we can still bring Him great pleasure.
