My life is but a weaving, Between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colours, He worketh steadily.
Oft times He weaveth sorrow, And I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper, And I the under side.
Not till the loom is silent, And the shuttles cease to fly,
Does God unroll the canvas. And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful, In the skilful weavers hand,
As the threads of gold and silver, In the pattern He has planned.
You might have heard these words before, but it is good to reflect upon them once again. They reflect, so clearly, the Biblical understanding of a gracious and purposeful Creator who though in total control of the entire Universe, works in and is interested in us as individuals.
How easy it is for us to rail at God or nurse a hidden resentment toward Him if things go wrong in our lives. But how foolish that is. What peace and help we so quickly forfeit when we leave God out because we are unhappy with Him.
That we live in a disordered and often unruly world is easily seen. It is all because of our rebellion. Some things happen because we lack good judgement, other through others or our own wilfulness, yet others because things breakdown and others because God brings judgement.
But there is nothing capricious or arbitrary about God’s intentions or character. We know that He loves us and would mould us into loving and trustworthy children. Jesus willingly bearing the judgement for our rebellion so assures us of God’s loving purposes and His glorious bodily resurrection on the third day shows us God’s great power and gracious purpose of transforming this unruly world. When Christ returns in glory God’s purpose will be plain to all and perfectly completed.
In the meantime He would graciously tame and transform us. ABC it has been said stands for adversity builds Christ likeness. We gain great strength and learn much about God, others and ourselves when we trust God in this way.
Adapted from an article by Peter Brain