Dear Members and Friends of IBCZ,
A few months ago, in a sermon I quoted the poem Life Is but a Weaving, that Corrie ten Boom often recited to audiences around the world. The poem pictures in a beautiful and insightful way how God is always at work, even in the difficult times, to bring to fruition His good will for our lives. As she recited the poem, she would hold up the back side of a weaving, so all the audience could see was a mass of tangled threads revealing no pattern. The poem goes like this:
My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I cannot choose the colors
He weaveth steadily.
Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow;
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I the underside.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And reveal 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 the very best to those
Who leave the choice to Him.
As she was finishing, Corrie ten Boom would slowly turn the weaving over so the audience could see the beautiful front side. Sometimes in life, all we can see is the backside of the weaving, tangled threads that make no sense and display no beauty. This past year in particular has been challenging for all of us. But God takes all those tangled threads, all the messiness and hurt and disappointment of our lives, joins it with the blessings and joys and celebrations of our lives, and He weaves it together to form a life of beauty. When we are going through challenging times, we can be confident that God, the Master Weaver, is always at work.
You may want to keep this poem handy, reading it often, that your trust in the Lord may deepen.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Bob