In times of trial perspective is everything!

 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.  Ephesians 2:10

What a contrast between these two sides of the same work of art!  Here we have a tapestry with a view of  the front side on the left and the back side on the right.  As you can see from the picture on the left this particular tapestry creation is a cityscape with its multicolor arrangement of high rise buildings.  It is interesting to note that the picture of the backside on the right reveals nothing but a jungle of tangled threads.

What do you see when you look at them?  The front is orderly and purposeful in its arrangement while the back side is disorderly and seems utterly purposeless.  In fact viewed from the backside only this “work of art” is a mess and its makes no sense whatsoever.

However, the creator of this tapestry knows what he is doing.  As a craftsman he is concerned only for the purposeful design on the front side of the tapestry.  How the backside looks is not important.

From God’s perspective, our lives are like this tapestry.  God uses the threads of our circumstances and choices in life to weave a masterful design that displays His glory.  The problem is that often there are times when we do not see His design. 

When trials and difficulties come along we can lose perspective.  All we can see are the tangled threads of our circumstances.  And no matter what kind of choices we make their effects are  like dangling threads as well.   Our view of our life disintegrates into a jungle of confusion and purposelessness.

The good news is that beyond our confusion God has a sovereign plan.  What we see is not the full picture.  For we see in part and we know in part.  (1 Corinthians 13:9)  In reckoning with such times, when we lose our perspective and seemingly could lose our way, we must get back to the simple axiom of living by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) 

So much of life requires trusting God’s perspective and not our own.  Jesus told Thomas and His disciples, blessed or happy are those who do not have to see it to believe!  (John 20:29)  That is the message of the tapestry.  It is a message of hope. 

God is planning something good and weaving a masterpiece of our lives even when we don’t see it.  We will be doubly blessed if we remind ourselves of that and cling to His perspective by faith.

What have you learned about battling through times of confusion when all you see is a tangled mess?

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