Every Tapestry Has Two Sides!
Think back to your childhood. One evening you and a friend were lying out in your backyard in the damp green grass looking up at the starlit night and dreaming about the lives that were ahead of you. Dreams of your suburban house with a white picket fence.
You had this idyllic view of your future. One that was happy, healthy, peaceful, charming, prosperous. There was no thought of serious health issues, unemployment, divorce, addiction, stress of dealing with aging parents, untimely deaths of loved ones, or any of the other challenges that we all have in life. Every one of your dreams would come true, and you would live happily ever after. You remember those childhood dreams, right?
Then, maybe somewhere along life’s journey, you invited Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. With that you thought the struggles would turn back into those childhood dreams. Somewhere along the way you got the false impression that anchoring yourself to Jesus would mean smooth sailing, no more rough seas, gusty winds, or capsized boats. But guess what, Jesus never promised any of that. He does however promise to be with us in all things. Which also means that God is with us (Matthew 1:23; John 1:1-2, 14).
Fast forward to today. You look at your life and it just seems to be one challenge piled on top of another. Nothing makes sense. You find yourself becoming disillusioned, discouraged, frustrated, hopeless. At every turn you face another struggle. The dreams you had, well, you have stopped dreaming, and right now you simply just want to hang on and ride out the waves without taking on more water. You find yourself questioning your faith. Those pleasant childhood dreams, well, they have become nightmares.
Do you know the story of Joseph, found in Genesis? Not Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, but instead, Joseph, the son of Jacob and Rachel. If you know the story, then you know that Joseph had a difficult life. His brothers conspired to kill him then sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:12-36). His master’s wife made a false accusation against him (39:1-18). He was unjustly imprisoned (39:19-23). Through it all, we are told that God was with Joseph (39:21).
Later, when all the brothers, including Joseph, gathered to bury their father, Joseph’s brothers begged him for mercy (Joseph was by now in a position of authority in Egypt). Here is what Joseph said to his brothers – “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Genesis 50:19-20).
Joseph knew God was making sense of his life. Picture your life as a tapestry. God is weaving together a beautiful masterpiece. Often from our point of view, which is the back side, all we see is a jumble of knotted, frayed, tangled, twisted and random threads. Nothing makes much sense. But from God’s point of view, the front side, He sees art – rich and vibrant colors, a masterpiece of breathtaking beauty.
The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said this, “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
So, regardless of what you feel like, or what your life looks like, God is still faithful and caring for you. He is in control and is working out your life in a way that, looking back, will all make sense one day. God sees the “front,” while we on the other hand often only see the “back.”
If you are encouraged by this or any of my writings, you can subscribe to be notified by email when I post something new. To subscribe, click here. Once you put in your email address you will then get an email confirming that you wish to subscribe. Thank you.