Covered

I was at a friend’s house one day when I noticed an antique settee in the very back corner of the garage underneath a lot of boxes, trash and dog beds. I could tell it had been out there for years! Being a longtime admirer of settees, I went over to it and began to remove all of the things that had it buried. As I got the majority of the trash off of it, I noticed the body of the settee was covered by an old fitted sheet that was filthy, stained and wrinkled. I gently pulled back the sheet, being careful to keep all the trash contained within it. Once I did that, I realized that this settee had been newly reupholstered. My eyes lit up! I could not believe something so valuable had been sitting in the garage being used to hold all these things that were being discarded.

I then noticed there was a dog leash that was caught underneath one of the legs.  As I bent down to pull the leash out, I noticed there was a second dog leash underneath the opposite leg in the exact same fashion. It was then that I realized that this settee had been used as a pillar to keep the dogs from roaming too far when they were in the garage. I then said to myself, “I have got to get this settee cleaned up and find a place to put it inside where it belongs.”

I took each of the cushions off, picked up all the larger debris, vacuumed out every nook and cranny, discarded the dog leashes, cleaned up all the legs and the trim and began to replace the cushions. When I picked up the first cushion, I noticed it wasn’t perfectly square. One of the corners was rounded. I thought to myself, “Well, the upholsterer didn’t do a good job on this cushion. It’s misshaped.” I went ahead and put the cushion in position. I then picked up the second cushion and noticed it was perfectly square. I thought to myself, “Now this one they did a good job on.” When I picked up the third cushion and realized it also had a rounded corner, it dawned on me that these cushions were designed this way on purpose. They fit into the rounded corners of the settee perfectly. What I thought was a mistake was actually designed that way on purpose. After I figured that out, I repositioned the cushions so that the rounded corners of the cushions snuggled right into the rounded corners of the settee.

Instantly, in that moment, it hit me. This settee is just like so many of us. Valuable yet discarded. Left to hold other people’s trash. Not properly positioned which causes others to believe that we’re a mistake. Still holding on to the residual of all the dogs that were once in our lives. Not even realizing that for all these years we have always been covered!

The settee was covered by a fitted sheet that protected it from feeling the full effect of the external factors that could have easily destroyed it. All the trash and stains that were on the sheet would have been on the settee had the sheet not covered it. We, like the settee, have been covered and protected from what could have destroyed us. Yes, maybe we haven’t been fully utilized to our fullest potential for years. Yes, maybe we’ve been carrying other people’s trash for years. Yes, maybe we were reduced to hanging out with the dogs. Yet, God somehow manages to send someone along who recognizes our value. They take the time to help us get cleaned up and help us to get properly positioned so that we can be used for the purpose for which we were created. I’m proud to say that that sweet little settee went from living in the garage to being housed in the room that another friend of mine refers to as The Jesus Room. (Talk about going from the pit to the palace!)

So be encouraged, my friend. Just because you may be surrounded by things that have been discarded, doesn’t mean that you have been. Just because you may feel buried and burdened down by other people’s trash, doesn’t mean you’re going unnoticed. The qualities about you that others think are wrong, could very well be a part of your Creator’s intended design. You may feel like you’ve lost a lot of years but you have to remember that you have been repositioned, restored, reupholstered and given a new garment which make you new! Your value has not been reduced because you have been covered by The Most High God!

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