He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end[…]I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 & 14
Thailand’s night markets teem with tourists from around the globe all in search of beautiful treasures; elephant carvings, “Gucci” handbags, Bruce Lee t-shirts, candles, and exotic scents and foods. Like any good tourist, we took to the streets. One night as we perused the trinkets our eyes were drawn to one hanging tapestry among stacks of them in a small shop. Colorful bright red, pink, purple and green fabrics were stitched with sequins, twine, and thread with no clear design or purpose. Yet, it seemed to hold a story that I was eager to know.
Before moving full-time to China, this trip to Thailand for pre-field training detoured our plans of hitting the ground running and put us on a treasure hunt instead. A week later and newly landed in China as cross-cultural workers, the coveted tapestry we bought in the night market was our first piece of art to hang in our drab Chinese apartment. Instantly it made our place homey by softening the stark white-washed walls. Within weeks, one of our family games became finding shapes and pictures within its construct like discovering images among the clouds. With each look, we found new figures and stories. Since those early days, we’ve added to those drapings, and though we’ve relocated stateside, it continues to hang in our home as a visual beacon of God’s goodness. Over the years as I’ve glanced at it and as we neared the end of our service in China, the tapestry’s story became a visual reminder of our family’s story as well as a sweet reminder of our lives in Christ.
Woven Remnants Reveal Our Beauty
Each sequin, thread, every patch of cloth and stitch seem to be in no particular pattern or design, yet when viewed from a distance the patchwork melded into a mindfully creative, awe-invoking mosaic; much like an impressionistic masterpiece. Our lives as individuals are a conglomeration of mini-moments, journeys, disappointments, unexpected joys, painful growth, as well as revelatory insights. In and of ourselves we are a work of beauty, but it doesn’t end there. Our createdness connects beyond ourselves as we are laced and sewn across nations, peoples, and languages weaving into a greater purpose. We are unified under the headship of our Creator and Saviour who mindfully and delicately wove us into purposeful being. Like my tapestry, we may look like a pile of remnants and scraps jammed together with no definite beauty in its own right, but upon stepping back an image arises and symmetry forms into a sacred piece of artistry–a breath-taking portrait of intentional design emerges.
The Body of Christ may not always look tidy.
In fact, more often than not we are in disarray, but if we, like God, could take a wider view we’d see the beautiful mess forming a tapestry of great workmanship—an awe-inspiring portrait of what is being accomplished through Christ.
We cannot fathom what this mess called life will end up looking like, or how the randomness is truly intentionality. Though a simple wall hanging reminds me daily that the hodgepodge of who we are is truly no mess at all, rather a beautiful treasure depicting our life’s stories stitched together into one artful piece of work.
…we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fit together by what every joint
Ephesians 4:15b-16 NASBsupplies , according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
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