Woven

When was the last time you heard from God?

That’s a loaded question, isn’t it? Because, first we need to have some idea of what He sounds like and when He might speak to us, right?

Sadly, I don’t have a step-by-step process to offer, but I can give the following example from a day I had last week.

As I was reading through scripture Wednesday morning, one verse stood out. So, in order to let the words soak into my thoughts, I placed them on a lovely photo as a verse graphic for my phone.

These are the words in the Message:

I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery.  Colossians 2:2

With thoughts of being woven by God into a fabric of his choosing, I set about my day. As I sorted old pictures and cleaned my office I began to reflect in the images, awash in memories. Soon I found myself wallowing in real disappointments I’ve experienced in the last 24 years of mothering.

As I sat there at my desk, wondering the big WHYs of my mothering life . . .  I noticed a CD case tucked under the pile of regrets.

I didn’t need to open the case or even listen to the CD to know the deeper meaning of finding it there, now. A poem written on the cover has been a lifeline for understanding how God is shaping my life:

“She who reconciles the ill-matched threads of her life,

And weaves them gratefully into a single cloth –

It’s she who drives the loudmouths from the hall

And clears it for a different celebration

Where the one guest is You”

– Rainer Maria Rilke

Reconcile: to come to accept a disagreeable or unwelcome thing, to make peace with.

How have I made peace with all those ill-matched threads in my life experience?

Remembering the words from Colossians 2:2, I noticed how God is revealing day-by-day the great mystery of knowing Christ as I listen and watch for Him. I haven’t heard a loud thunderclap from heaven or seen a bring neon light of revelation.

In the Bible the word reconcile is used a bit differently. It has a specific purpose . . . “the reestablishment of an interrupted or broken relationship between us and God.”

What’s so amazing about this is that we don’t have to figure out a way to fill the gap between us. This is the Lord’s work, as Colossians 1:22-23 reminds us :

²²now he(God) has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

²³ But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it.

Regardless of my journey to get where I am today – in this free and reconciled relationship with God – I can stand firm.

Reflect on your own life . . .

What ill-matched threads have been woven into your life story?

Can you come to accept and welcome them . . .  not out of sheer force of will . . . but with a  steady letting go?

Are you able to focus on Christ rather than on disappointments?

Here’s a song with great words of truth and a journey vibe to encourage you that every mile along the way mattered: