Saturday, June 4, 2011

Tangled Tapestry

A new song from Laura Story called "Blessings" has recently captured my attention as I continue to seek out why this life is full of so much pain and heartbreak for so many.



Then on the anniversary of Chrissie's homecoming, her mother wrote this post. This passage really struck me:
I know that God is weaving a beautiful tapestry, but I'm totally stuck on the back side of that tapestry.  I'm tangled among all of the other strings, in knots, where nothing looks pretty or organized or predictable, no matter what angle I look at it.  But to those standing on the other side of the tapestry, they stand in awe of the beauty that exists on the other side.  Right now, I think the other side of the tapestry is heaven.  I'm not sure I'll ever see the beauty of this tapestry here on earth, but what a glorious day it will be to actually see the tapestry and appreciate its beauty.
I read that and I thought "That's it! That's a perfect way to explain all this mess and pain and suffering here on earth." I cross-stitch every now and then so I totally get the analogy. The front looks great but the back is a mess of strings and knots and crossed colors. I've tried to stitch in a way to make the back look as good as the front by not taking shortcuts and such but eventually came to realize there are times when you just can't get the design on the front to look the way it's supposed to be unless there is some mess on the back.
 
Could it be the same for God? Could it be that He is weaving something beautiful on the other side out of the mess on this side? I'm not suggesting that He is sacrificing us to get the results. But like Laura Story's song suggests that even with the greatest of care, sometimes we can't get to the blessings, to the beauty, to the glory, without first getting tangled and knotted and crossed. Could it be He is stitching Himself into our lives as we face the trials and difficulties so that when we get to the other side, we are entwined with Him in an unbreakable, forever way? Is every knot in our life really a foothold on the rope to eternity, allowing us to climb a little farther, get a little closer? Are they really blessings that help us on the way, if we will just see the truth about them?

If so, I don't think that it lessens the pain any, but I do think it provides hope that the pain is not all there is. There is a reason to press on, to keep climbing, to keep drawing closer to the One who loves us enough to redeem us from the pit.
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. - Romans 8:19-21
Someday, we will see how these knots and tangles have transformed us into something unutterably beautiful.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i am looking forward to the day when we shall see what Jesus really had in mind.
the beautiful side of the weaving@