There is economy in uniformity. Manufacturers strive for it. Customers demand it. When we buy light bulbs for our home, we expect two bulbs of similar type to have the same intensity and color temperature. How displeasing would it be to buy 3 cans of the same paint for your living room – only to find out the color varies between them? Our expectation is that multiple items with the same name and specification will be uniform – within certain tolerances.
But, much of life’s richness is dependent on the surprising variations we observe….. the grain of a piece of wood, the shape and character of a stone, the beauty of a tree (no two have ever been alike), the extravagant display of color and clouds at sunset.
Did you fall in love because of uniformity? No, we love the beautifully different and distinct person who is special to us. What joy God must have in beholding the distinguishing differences of his children. Made in his image, we must see that “his image” is more vast and complex than the universe he created. This is not the image of Abraham Lincoln on a $5 bill. It is God’s incomprehensible image, surpassing knowledge, the image of the one who calls the stars by name, the one who knew me before the beginning of time. His image is imprinted on the children he has borne.
Isaiah 40:26 NIV
“Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.”
“The prism of God’s gifts in your life will refract shades of divine glory that would never come through my prism.”
Jon Piper – God’s Grace in Spiritual Gifts