A two-sided tapestry. I recall a beautiful tapestry my Aunty had created many years ago. The tapestry was a delightful country scene. It was a two-sided tapestry. The front side of the tapestry was a flawless pictorial design of beautiful, coloured threads woven together to create a patterned artwork that depicted life in the country. Turning the tapestry over to the underside revealed the ugly, jumbled, tatty, frayed strands that were just a big mess. Most of us want to hide the ragged side of the tapestry but the ugly mess of the underside has a direct relationship with beauty on the front side. The ugly is part of the beauty. It is a two-sided tapestry.
God is the author of all human life which is an exquisite expression of His masterful creative work. God’s original design was a one-sided tapestry exhibiting a life of holiness. Sadly, sin spoiled the design which now means life is a two-sided tapestry: the ugly underside of the mess of sin; all the threads of our own imperfections that we are all too aware of and that only God knows about, but also the strands of brokenness that are present in life. The beautiful side is the result of God’s recreative work in us as He takes every thread of ugliness and reworks it into a picture of holiness, transforming us into the visible expression of Jesus. Ephesians 4:22-24. Without God we would remain ugly and unholy. (Scary thought if we are honest). So, out of His great love and passion, He weaves a pattern through us, picking up the ugly, unholy, and broken strands to form a picture of the redeemed life in us. God works the two-sided tapestry of our lives together for His glory.
Wouldn’t you just love to spend a moment in God’s creative room? Imagine seeing Him at work on our two-sided tapestries. Yet even a small peak would reveal the grand tapestry God is truly weaving. Not only does He work on our individual, two-sided tapestries, but He also inter-weaves them into one big expansive tapestry of His redemptive story. Every thread of every life is being re-formed into His narrative of salvation. God beckons the world to look on to see the magnificent picture of truth revealed through His people who are being changed to be like Jesus, as one unified work of art that points them to the pure love of God who knows our ugly sides but loves us unconditionally and willingly weaves us into beautiful expressions of His holiness.
So, friends, get your “God tapestry” on today.
Best days to come.
Wen