"We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose..." (Romans 8:28)
"Everything happens for a reason..." (American "proverb" that many assume is based on Biblical principles)
Reflection:
My wife loves knitting. And she's good at it.
She keeps telling me "Russell Crowe knits" to remind me it's not just for women.
I say, "Good for Russell Crowe..."
I was watching her knit an especially challenging project one time - a project that included several balls of yarn. She'd pick up one color and bring it in, then the next, then the next.
The balls of yarn were all beautiful colors - except one. There was one ugly, bland brown ball of yarn.
But what amazed me was that, as the project developed, her masterful skills threaded that single strand of brown in and out of the other colors until the entire thing was stunning - truly a work of art. I guess that's what really talented knitters can do. Even that ugly brown ball of yarn became part of something beautiful.
In my life as a pastor, I hear people say "Everything happens for a reason" a lot. It is a source of comfort for many; the idea that when something bad happens, even though we might not understand the purpose, there must be one...
But what if there isn't?
What if, sometimes, bad things happen? Either because of our poor choices, or chance, or genetics, or the poor choices of others? What if, sometimes, things just happen even if we wish they wouldn't?
See, the reason I don't like that phrase is that it assumes God is a big puppet master. If someone is in a car accident, and there is a fatality, this phrase silently insinuates that God caused the death...
Why? To teach others a lesson? That's not the God I believe in, and it's not the God pictured in the Bible, if read as a whole.
Maybe, God is like a master knitter, taking the ugly, the bland, the painful, the impossible, and still weaving those threads into the whole fabric that is your life?
What if God is really that talented and good and kind and gracious?
What if, in the fabric of my personality, gifts, and flaws, God has allowed even the hardest experiences I've had to be part of the beautiful whole?
What if all things really DO work together for good for those who love the Lord, because God's determined not to waste any of our experiences?
What if, by God's grace, the ugly experiences can in the end make us more gracious, forgiving, and open?
Does this mean God caused our pain to make us that way, or does it mean God is busy knitting?
Today, my prayer is that whatever you are going through, you trust in the promise that whether you sense it or not, God is busy knitting in your life, too...
Well said. Is still remember (and it may be the only thing I remember from Chaplaincy in the hospital) a man telling me after he showed up on the telemetry floor (heart monitoring, usually for those who have had heart attacks) that he was tired of people telling him 'this too will pass.' He said "everyone always says that right after you end up in the hospital but no one ever says that after you win the lottery."
ReplyDeleteHe was a wise man.
As always,well said.
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