Master Weaver – Trusting God in Chaos
I’ve had lots of messy, hurtful times in my life: my husband’s combat tours, gossiping neighbors, financial struggles, marital tensions, infertility, health crises, times that felt like they were breaking me apart.
During those moments that felt like my world was breaking in two, I’ve held tightly to this promise.
Romans 8:28 ESV “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
Because sometimes in the middle of it, I couldn’t see how. I’ve sat in the mess holding my heart in my hands wondering how God could possibly being doing any good.
God promises He uses all things for our good, but sometimes, we can't see how. We have to trust our Master Weaver. Click To TweetAnd then I would start to see the hints of God’s hand using those messes, and I pictured the weaving of Persian carpets, some of the most intricate, most beautiful in the world, woven together with absolute precision.
But in the middle of weaving, it is a bit of a mess.
Strings hanging in random directions, lots of white threads, etc. Only the master weaver knows what the finished product will become, while we only see how perfectly the pieces fit together once each part is completed.
I can’t always easy to see how the messy parts fit, but they always do in the end.
April 2013, I had an arthroscopic hip surgery that was supposed to “fix” my hip. Instead, my hip was completely destroyed. After a total hip replacement in January 2014, I was recovering nicely, then dislocated my new hip. I had to spend 6 1/2 weeks in an immobilizing brace. Unable to sit up, lay down, drive, shower, dress, live in any easy way in that thing, I was STUCK at home. Frustrated, I couldn’t see how all the injuries, surgeries and setbacks could be part of God’s plan.
I wasn’t able to do anything!
Exactly what God wanted. He wanted me to stop running, figuratively and literally. SIT DOWN. Be still. Wait on ME.
So I spent months just being home, spending time with my daughter, focusing on my relationship with my husband and with God. It became an amazing time of dedicating my life to God and His highest ministry for me, raising my daughter and serving my husband through what I could be, not do.
My perspective on my purpose and my value shifted tremendously.
And two more complications, requiring two more surgeries, three more dislocations, and cumulative years of being sidelined, pushed me to trust God even more. I’ve been able to trust His plan. And see His work in my heart, even as my life has looked like one disaster after another.
I can't always see God's plan in the chaos, but I can trust Him through it. #ChristianWoman #TrustGod Click To TweetDuring the difficult years waiting to be a mother, I cried, I ached, I got bitter before I turned it over to God. But if you gave me a chance to change it, I wouldn’t.
God used every minute of the waiting.
He used that time to introduce me to my husband, to move me around the country, meet new people, to become the woman who was ready finally to be a Godly mother, raising my child for Him, not myself.
God gave me the absolute right child for me at the perfect time. He was teaching me to be patient, have wisdom and strength, and definitely, to be selfless in an entirely new way.
I couldn’t understand why He wanted me to wait, but He was preparing me to be this tiny tornado’s mother. This child is a force of nature. And I had to wait for her.
I couldn’t have known that then and wouldn’t have missed mothering her for the world!
My journey gave me opportunities to mentor and encourage others.
My struggles with infertility and our journey through adoption has allowed me to witness, minister, and support many women in similar situations. What a gift to be able to be a friend and sister in Christ in this way!
I think of all the young mothers I would never have met if I’d been a mother earlier, young women I can walk beside and support now, facing the same challenges, but as a mentor in Christ.
God has used our seemingly random moves in the military, but each was part of God’s plan in many ways.
In Texas, I met some women who truly changed my life, becoming sisters in Christ. I cannot understate how important they have been to my life. They befriended me, supported me, helped bring me to a deeper walk with God, helped love me out of my shell, changed my life.
Also, our daughter was born there. Her birth mother chose us because she could meet us in person. God didn’t waste even the tiniest ripples of His hand.
Despite our struggles, the tiny ripples of God's hands in my life were never wasted. #TrustGod #NothingisWasted Click To TweetThen, again the army sent us away from all we knew.
But it was here that I got to stay home and raise my daughter, play Candy Land instead of grade essays. Here, we found a new friends and an amazing church. Being here has absolutely grown me spiritually.
At the time of writing this, my husband and I were dealing with an assignment that was 16-18 hour days, 6-7 days every week. It was daunting for him, for me, for our daddy’s girl who misses him so, but God has been ahead of us, guiding our paths all along.
I couldn’t see why that was the right place for our family, but I can trust God that it was when I see how that stressful time prepared us for the next steps in his career after the military and helped us learn to depend on each other.
Surviving the storm together binds our hearts together in a way ease never did.
Surviving the storms of life strengthens us in ways that ease never did. Click To TweetI can rest knowing that God has a plan for my life.
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Many quote this verse from Jeremiah, but few put it into context.
4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. . . . 10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.
God promises He has a plan, but it includes 70 years of exile.
Christians often cling to Jeremiah 29:11. We like to think it promises easy lives. However, God really promised that He stayed with them in exile. He had not forgotten them and had planned this for their redemption. He didn’t promise they wouldn’t suffer.
Can you look back at your life and see times the Master Weaver always had a plan?
All the pieces in your life that seemed out-of-place but turned out to be part of the design all along. Maybe you’re in that period of difficulty right now and can’t see how all the pieces fit.
God doesn’t waste anything. Every struggle and joy are a part of His plan for your life, unique pieces of you He can use.
Remember, God sees the finished product, and He is making a beautiful and wondrous work of your life.
Ephesians 2:10 ESV For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
So Master Weaver, sweet Abba Father, my hope is in your complete plan for my life, despite the challenges.
34 Comments
Maria Hass
Thank you for the reminder that it’s not in vain! I needed to read that today.
Jennifer
I need reminding myself sometimes! Thanks for reading.
Grace
As you know the military breeds chaos in our lives sometimes! We are in full force of that right now with an upcoming tdy & unaccompanied overseas tours! But slowly things are getting to where they need to be!
Jennifer
Oh no! That is hard! But you’ve done distance before! I know you’ll be fine, but please – if you need to talk, let me know. I’ve done three year long deployments and several TDYs. It is always a growing experience.
Andrea
Oh I have been quoting Romans 8:28 so many times!
Jennifer
It’s a wonderful verse.
andrea
He DOES work it ALL out
Shakera
This post is so encouraging. Romans 8:28 is my favorite scripture! Even when things seem to be falling apart we must remind ourselves that it is working together for our good!
Jennifer
I try to make notes any time I see how God uses the hard things, so I can reflect on His faithfulness during a “growth opportunity.”
Danielle
This is beautiful and filled with heart! The paragraph about your season of waiting I can relate to! It is so important for us to look back and reflect on our lives and to see what God was doing during that seemingly random season. Feeling encouraged!
Jennifer
I am in a different kind of waiting season right now and needed the encouragement myself. Glad it spoke to you as well.
Susannah
It never ceases to amaze me that often God uses our toughest times to bring Him the most glory!
Jennifer
God uses the most broken people in the most broken times because it makes clear He is real and alive! What a real blessing to be able to see that truth from time to time.
Melanie
It’s hard to see how God can use something when we’re in the middle of it, and it’s often only when we look back that we see his hand in our lives.
Helen
I just LOVE this! What a great image, so often we can’t see what the messy is for or what is going to come out of it…if only we would always remember that God has got this, then we would surely learn so much more…I confess I struggle with resting in his timing…I want to clean up and clear up the mess, but God is in control. Thanks for this, really great.
Jennifer
I think God knew marrying a military man would teach me to let go of SO much control.
Tara
This is a great explanation of how we should react to our pain and the messy beauty that can come from it. Very inspirational! It is all about the bigger picture, we just loose sight of it too easily.
Nicole
Thank you for this. As someone who has been through my own share of times when my world was falling apart, I appreciate this reminder. I am not on the other side yet…I still struggle with some situations and have no idea why God allowed those circumstances in my life. But I choose to “see the goodness of the Lord” as Psalm 27 says. Thank you for sharing your journey with us!
Jennifer
Faith can move mountains, but God never promised us it would be quickly. I have to remind myself of that often!
Mary Collins
So sorry about your hip. Love the way you used weaving of the rug. It is a mess sometimes when we are walking through a trial. I know I feel that way too. But the Lord is faithful and good to us. He never fails us.
Jennifer
Sometimes it takes longer to see how it is working out, but we have faith that it is in His timing.
Lisa Morris
Words to live by, ” Don’t see how but trust that he will work everything for good!” I am greatly encouraged by your faith! Great post!
Jennifer
Good words to remind myself too! Lots of challenges this week. So this post was a lot of reminding myself.
Danielle
My favorite hymn is “Be Still My Soul”. The words are so touching! I was reminded of them as I read this post:
Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Jennifer
So beautiful! Thanks for sharing those lyrics.
Deborah
I always love hearing from women who don’t waste their pain–they turn it into a witness for the Lord. Thank you for sharing how you are staying focused. God is the master weaver–even when we can’t see what that final product will be like and the pattern doesn’t make any sense to our eyes.
Blessings,
Jennifer
God did the turning it into a witness, I just let Him. 😉
Brianna
Such a great picture. Oh how he loves us. Oh how he leads us. He is ever faithful. 🙂
Brianna @ unveiledandrevealed.com
Caroline @ In Due Time
He is the master weaver! So glad He works all things together for our good
Jennifer
I thought of you while writing this. I hope you see the threads of His plan coming together for your family too!
victoria carrington
Thanks for another encouraging post! It is often so hard to see God’s hand in the midst of difficulties. I had a summer filled with sickness that turned out exactly the opposite of what I thought it would be. Plans and goals that I had were totally put on hold. Why? After months of asking, I finally have the peace that I may not know why now or maybe not ever but I can rest assured that God has everything under control. He does know the plans He has for me, even when I feel I am in the dark. Thanks again for sharing.
Jennifer
I understand so much!! Physical struggles are hard, but I can always find a lesson I needed to learn.
Starla J
It’s so awesome to know that God didn’t just create us and walk away but that He is still here!! Walking with us! He has us! Thank you for this post!
creativekkids
Reading this post was an encouragement to me. To see how God had a plan for you in the hard times and how you can see that He was and is good at all times. I will pray for you and your husband in this move that you will be able to stay focused on Him. Thanks for sharing.