Along The Way
Proverbs 3:5-6 (New
Living Translation)
5 Trust in
the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own
understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
In last week’s message
I wrote about God’s love, (did I mention that nothing can separate you from
God’s love?) but there have been times in my life when I was not persuaded of
these verses. I have felt alone and cut
off and orphaned and hurt and fearful and cried alone in the night. There have been times when I’ve wondered
where the love of God had gone to because I surely didn’t feel loved.
I heard a story
during one particularly dark period in my life that stuck with me and I take
comfort from it. A person was shown a
tapestry. It was a big piece of heavy
cloth that a picture had been designed on using colored thread woven through
the fabric. But when the person first
saw it, it was a mess! Threads
crisscrossed the picture and there were lots of knots and bumps that made no
sense at all. The person who made it
proudly showed them all the hard work involved and how different colored
threads were used and where they began and where they ended. But it still looked confusing and
disorderly. Then the tapestry was turned
over and the picture was beautiful and perfect.
An idyllic town nestled in the woods with a bubbling brook flowing
by. There were deer and squirrels and
other animals playing in the woods and a farm had cows, goats and
chickens. The buildings were all
different and people walked the streets and stood in doorways. Threads had to cross on the back and knots
had to be tied and ends had to dangle so that there would be a beautiful scene
on the front.
I cling to this
idea. I will never know why I went
through so many bumps and failures and wrong turns but I know with certainty,
(I am persuaded,) that it was all for a reason.
Somehow it all had meaning and all worked together for my good. And even if I never see what the good was in
every situation, I will walk by faith and know God has my best interest in
mind. And since we walk by faith and not
by sight, I will continue my journey through life confident that God is
trustworthy and still in charge and tell myself His ways are not my ways and I
need to keep walking along. I will trip
over some of the knots. I will get
tangled in some of the crisscrossing threads.
I will hit some of the bumps. But
I am walking towards a goal I can’t see and won’t understand it all until I’m
there.
If you don’t get
what I’m saying, it’s OK. You’ll just
have to trust me. Just a few years ago I
would have read this and scoffed at it.
But as I’ve relied more on God and His love and accept by faith that He
is in charge, the more I begin to see the truth in His Word and understand His
love.
Stephen Cram November 24, 2013
Beware lest
any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, following the tradition
of men according to the rudiments of the world, and not in accordance with
Christ. Colossians 2:8
Visit my pastor’s blog at http://pastorjonrhinehart.blogspot.com/.
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