The Lord spoke to me this morning through a pile of tangled necklaces that has been sitting in a cupboard. At one time, they had hung neatly on a fancy necklace holder, and then catastrophe struck…
The necklace holder, designed to look like an elegant woman all dressed up but with hooks surrounding the top, tipped over in the cupboard. Maybe I was in a rush that day, or maybe I was just being careless and didn’t gently handle the fallen treasures, but I ended up with a piled mass of metal, leather, and chains that has sat there for months.
I have been unwilling to take the time to try and unravel them. Maybe I have been simply content to wear the necklaces that survived the fall unscathed, or maybe I have just been uninspired to untangle the mess, but that messy pile of necklaces has remained relatively untouched for quite some time. The necklaces have not been able to fulfill their purpose of bringing me joy and adorning my neck with their unique beauty.
As I reached for one in the pile today that I had forgotten about and really wanted to wear, Holy Spirit taught me some valuable lessons:
— Untangling is a process that can’t be rushed.
— We need to shine a light on the mess to have any hope of untangling it.
— Some things are harder to free from the mess than others.
— The only way that we can untangle things is to be deliberate about it. The mess won’t untangle itself.
— Some things will fall away with little effort on our part. Don’t dismiss those little victories, enjoy them and live in gratitude for what you have been given.
— If we try to force our agenda rather than act with patience and wisdom, we can break things or tangle them up even more.
I didn’t take the time to continue untangling the pile of necklaces to free the expensive chunky silver chain with quality pendants that I originally went after, but God did something better as I learned more lessons of how he leads us in this life.
As I was trying to untie the knots to untangle the necklace that I had spotted in the pile, one fell out all on its own. What God released with little effort on my part is the necklace that I am wearing today… a necklace that has survived over thirty years. The necklace that each one of my four children, as babies, would tug on, try to eat, and would play with as I held them in my arms. As strong as my arms were, this necklace was just as strong, and God flooded my mind with these precious memories as he reminded me of the importance of his purpose above our own will for our lives.
My four babies are now 17 – 27 years old now, and the tangled mess of their growing up years in a family of addiction, abuse, and hiding the truth still needs more deliberate attention, time, love and grace to be untangled. But for today, wearing this practical and precious reminder of God’s presence and love is exactly what I needed. I hope this blesses someone else too.
(Originally published on Facebook, October 29, 2025)