I was seeking something unusual, even beautiful as I spotted the busy garage sale. I looked down on the mired mess of threads chaotically woven with what seemed no direction or purpose. I picked up the piece and ran my fingers carefully across the threads, some felt stretched, and others were softly guided through the fabric. As I held it up to make out the design and intent of its maker, I became more confused. Much of it was clearly unfinished and I assumed it was abandoned by the maker. Perhaps the array of colors woven indiscriminately would give a clue. I held it higher, and it unfolded into a massive work of art. Examining it closer, I became more perplexed until I turned the piece upside down and realized I had been looking at the back side. The front was a masterpiece, exquisitely and intricately fine-tuned; a magnificently planned design that left me stunned.
My friend, today your life may appear to be a messy chaotic array of random events. It may feel as if life is aimless and obtuse with no trajectory or purpose. You may feel stretched in so many directions for so long that you don’t know what life should be like anymore. You may feel as if God is absent and has abandoned you.
I want to tell you that God has been at work weaving an intricate masterpiece. He has purposefully threaded every detail with love and care, and you are in it. He has seen every smile, foresaw every hardship, and captured every tear.
“You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” Psalm 56:8
He has picked you up and carried you when you found no strength to go on. He has walked with you, listened to your fears, and held your hand as your heart was breaking. He has loved you from the time you were born. Even those times that you’ve turned your back on Him, He was waiting patiently for you to come back.
The truth is God has a plan for this world and a plan for your life. Regardless of the most recent news headline, or fake headline, God is still in control. Friend, you may be looking at the back side of a masterpiece right now and just can’t make it out. Life looks messy. God sees the front side – He has a different perspective than we do. One day when you arrive in heaven, you will see how God’s plan worked out.
Right now, you are looking at a mirror in a dimly lit room, even Paul wrote how hard it is to see.
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” 1 Cor. 13:12
The Resurrection of Christ Tapestry, located in the Tapestries Gallery of the Vatican Museums. This masterpiece was able to capture human emotion only by using thread. I have heard that the eyes of Jesus appear to be watching you as you walk by, “moving perspective”. If you peeked at the back side, you would see a tangled mess, indiscernible. On this side of heaven, we can only see the back side of the tapestry with its massive knots and unravelling edges – this is what God is doing. But on the front side, we’ll be able to see that all along God has been doing something magnificent. Just you wait and see.
Life is But a Weaving
By Corrie Ten Boom
My Life is but a weaving
between my Lord and me;
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper,
And I the under side.
Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly,
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
He knows, He loves, He cares,
Nothing this truth can dim.
He gives His very best to those
Who leave the choice with Him.
Corrie ten Boom and her family helped Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II and, by all accounts, saved nearly 800 lives. During World War II, Corrie and her family harbored hundreds of Jews to protect them from arrest by Nazi authorities. Betrayed by a fellow Dutch citizen, the entire family was imprisoned. Corrie incredibly survived and started a worldwide ministry and later told her story in a book entitled The Hiding Place.