The Weaver

I recently read a short yet profound poem called "The Weaver":

"My life is but a weaving

Between my Lord and me,

I cannot choose the colors

He worketh steadily.

Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow,

And I in foolish pride

Forget He sees the upper

And I, the underside.

Not till the loom is silent

And the shuttles cease to fly

Shall God unroll the canvas

And explain 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."

As a pastor, it's hard to walk with people when unspeakable tragedy is woven into their lives. For example, I remember the Saturday when I got a text that a vivacious 47-year-old member had a massive stroke, which eventually took her (earthly) life. I have no words.

People often wonder why bad things happen or why they go through difficulties and pain. The Bible says that disease, illness, pain, and death are symptoms of a larger disease that has infected everyone on earth: sin (just see Genesis 3).

I don't have all the answers, but I know that God is always in control and that one day He will wipe away all the tears from our eyes (Revelation 21). I like to summarize the sin disease like this: "Sometimes bad things happen because we sin, sometimes bad things happen because other people sin against us, and sometimes bad things happen simply because sin is in the world."

Whatever we're going through, we can trust Jesus - God-in-the-flesh - to use what we're going through to make us more like Him. He never leaves us, and He gives us the strength to do what we cannot do. And, He defeated sin and death so that one day, every wrong will be made right. The mess of this world will turn into a masterpiece, because He is the Master Weaver.