Walking from East to West | The Tapestry

"The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills,

and we are only the thread of the Pattern."

                              --Moiraine Damodred,

                                         The Wheel of Time.

Only God alone can weave the beautiful pattern of our lives.

SOME YEARS AGO, I was visiting a place known for making the best wedding saris in the world. They were the producers of saris rich in gold and silver threads, resplendent with an array of colors. With such intricacy of detail, I expected to see some elaborate system of machines that would boggle the mind in production. But this image could not have been further from the real scene.

Each sari was made individually by a father and son team. The father sat above the son on a platform, surrounded by several spools of thread that he would gather into his fingers. The son had only one task. At a nod from his father, he would move the shuttle from one side to the other and back again. This would then be repeated for hundreds of hours, until a magnificent pattern began to emerge.

The son certainly had the easier task. He was only to move at the father’s nod. But making use of these efforts, the father was working to an intricate end. All along, he had the design in his mind and was bringing the right threads together.

The more I reflect on my own life and study the lives of others, I am fascinated to see the design God has for each one of us individually, if we would only respond. As I have noted, God has created us for his purpose, and relationship, stewardship, and worship are built into this design.

God alone can weave a pattern from the disparate threads of our lives—whether suffering, success, joy, or heartache—and fashion a magnificent design. Perhaps today, if you will stop and reflect on it, you will see that the Father is seeking to weave a beautiful tapestry in your life.

Warm Regards,

Ravi

"There is no doubt that God prepared me for this life I now lead, connecting the varied and ironic threads of my experience into a beautiful tapestry as He would see fit...

This is where my life was shaped. This is where my calling began. And this is where I very nearly ended it all, out of my own despair...

The full story only the tapestry can explain...

To try to begin to take it all in... It is nothing less than a tapestry woven skillfully and mysteriously by father and son--the elder nodding and the younger responding--a work whose beauty is revealed in fullness only upon its completion...

There is no greater discovery than seeing God as the author of your destiny.

I can hardly wait for heaven to put it all together--yes, even more."

The letter is from Ravi Zacharias' Think Again while the other quotes are from his autobiography, Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows, pages 20, 28, and 240 (the final page).

For another story from his book, click here.

Or, here is the introduction.