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The Tapestry
A missionary was traveling in the Far East when he came across a booth in a
market place. It was a tapestry makers booth. As he walked by he saw a strange
sight. A man was standing in the booth shouting at his loom on the other side of
the booth. As he shouted threads appeared in the tapestry almost by magic. The
missionary asked his guide for an explanation.
"The man you see," said the guide, "Is a master weaver. He is speaking to his
apprentice behind the loom telling him what color thread to use and where to put
it. Only the weaver knows the entire design, so it is vital that the apprentice
do exactly as the master commands."
"Does the apprentice ever make a mistake?" asked the missionary.
"Of course. But the weaver is a very kind man in this case and he will rarely
have the boy take out the thread. Instead, being a great artist, he
simply works the mistake into the design."
How much that is like God. We cannot see
the pattern of the tapestry God is weaving. We are on the other side of the loom
looking at knotted threads placed seemingly without purpose. Occasionally we can
catch a glimpse of the design, but then as soon as we think we have it pegged
the master calls for a thread which changes every thing. So, we have to trust
the master weaver that he knows what he is doing.
And like the apprentice, we, too make our
mistakes. We put in a red thread instead of a violet one. We knot it in the
wrong place or place it crookedly. And God in his mercy doesn't upbraid us but
takes our own mistakes and make them part of the design.
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