Weaving Wisdom

Not far from the northern New Mexico town where I grew up, the Gabriel Ortega family has been weaving beautiful wool blankets since the 1700s. Their incredible weaving is world renown, and their detailed techniques have been passed down for nine generations. If you ever get a chance to visit the village of Chimayo, be sure to visit their store (and also my favorite New Mexican restaurant Rancho de Chimayo).

The art of weaving is a very intricate process, requiring great patience and careful focus. Pigment- dyed yarn is woven one thread at a time, row after row through the loom, until the beautiful creation is complete. As a master weaver brings forth his beautiful craft, so too does God bring forth his beautiful creation in our lives.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Ephesians 2:10

The New Living Bible reads this verse as “we are God’s masterpiece.” The original Greek word is “poeima” which means “a work coming forth from a Creator”.

You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful.  Psalm 139:13-14

The Psalmist speaks to the delicate care, stitch by stitch, by which God begins our lives and forms us into the person He desires. I see several life truths in comparing God’s weaving of our lives with that of the Native American tradition

The Weaver knows his creation intimately. As the weaver spends the necessary time and care with each strand of yarn, he comes to know the masterpiece very well. So too does God knows each of us very well.  “O LORD, you have searched me and you know me…You are familiar with all my ways.” (Psalm 139:1,3).

Then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  1 Corinthians 13:12

There is a vulnerability we have before our all-knowing Creator. Yet brought together with His unfailing love shown on the Cross, we are free to run to Him with our every care, knowing He already knows and already has grace and mercy to cover.

The Weaver will work “mistakes” into His master plan. It is a Navajo tradition to weave at least one mistake into their blankets as a reminder that only the Creator is perfect. To those of us being “conformed to the image of God’s Son” (Romans 8:29), what may look like a mistake is more likely a purposeful working intended to shape our hearts, souls and minds.  The “bumps in the road” are a reminder of our desperate need for a Savior, and the constant protection and provision of the Good Shepherd.  As the master weaver incorporates those “mistakes” into the beautiful design, so too does God incorporate the trials and temptations of this life into the beautiful story He’s working in us.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good.  Romans 8:28 (ESV)

Each row alone does not reveal the Weaver’s perfect plan. Taken one at a time, each row may look plain or uncoordinated. But worked together with all the rows, their beauty is revealed. So can we often not make sense of each event or season of our lives one at a time. But worked together, their purpose becomes clearer and the working of God through each is more evident.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.   1 Corinthians 4:17

 The beauty of the Weaver’s plan is not revealed until the masterpiece is complete. It is in the final rows of weaving that the overall beauty of the design is revealed. I think much of what we live through in the present is to prepare us for the future. When we reach the end of this life, ready to enter the eternal presence of God Himself, our understanding will be complete. All of our “why, Lord?” questions will be answered because we will see the whole of His plan for our lives revealed. May we finish well, and celebrate His faithfulness through each season. May we trust that He is working all into His beautiful masterpiece- for His glory.

Beautiful wool blankets that bear the name of Ortega are highly valued- not just for their detail and design, but for the reputation of their creator. We bear the name of the Creator of the universe, and we are very highly valued- not just for our detail and design, but for His reputation. We have been woven together by God to display His glory.

Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.   Isaiah 43:7

May we trust the hands of the Creator, the Master, working His beautiful work in our lives. May we allow His perfect plan to be revealed for His glory, one season at a time.

 

Practicing Patience

There are a lot of things in life we have to wait for. Around our house we wait in the car for the last person to be ready for church. We wait for our turn on the family computer. We wait for dinner to be ready when we are starving from the day’s activities. We wait for a long-anticipated family vacation. We wait for Christmas to come around again.

In those moments of waiting, my kids have heard me say a thousand times,

“It’s always good to practice patience!”

In our hurry-up-the-microwave culture, patience is something we all need to practice… and practice a lot. We like things to happen on our schedule. And with our schedules so often overloaded, we like things to happen quickly so we can be quick to move on to the next activity. We are quick to move through this moment and jump into the next. We are rushed and hurried, and as long as we can keep things in our tight control, we hold together.

Patience is the practice of waiting. And in that waiting, we are reminded that we don’t control everything. We can’t control everything.

Patience is a surrender of my will. I surrender to another person, or another circumstance outside my control. A traffic backup, a slow grocery line, a coworker’s delay.

Patience puts a pause in my rushing, and helps me realign with the sovereignty of God over my life.

We can learn to see minor, and even major, interruptions and inconveniences as opportunities to practice patience. Patience does not come naturally to our self-centered souls. When we practice patience, we learn to have greater patience with both challenging people and changing circumstances.

When Paul writes of love in the popular 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the first adjective he uses to define love is patience. Love is patient. Patience is listed after love and joy in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). The Greek Lexicon gives the following definition for patience:

“To be of long spirit, not to lose heart, to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles.”

To persevere patiently and bravely. We are called to not just wait, but to wait patiently with a brave attitude. We often wait impatiently with a fretful attitude.

We all remember a childhood coach teaching us something along the lines of “how you practice is how you’ll play.” I’m thinking that if I’m going to be prepared to be of long spirit and not lose heart, persevering patiently and bravely as I endure misfortunes and troubles, I’m going to need a lot of practice. I need life’s smaller misfortunes to prepare me for greater troubles that will come.

The other lesson I see in practicing patience is learning to wait on the Lord.  Over and over again in the Bible we are commanded to wait on the Lord.

“Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart, and wait for the LORD.”  Psalm 27:14

When I wait on the Lord, I place my life in His hands. I pause my own agenda, and surrender to His will for my life. I allow life to happen on His schedule, not on my own.

How can I practice patience with challenging people? First, I can acknowledge the call to love them, and the first importance of patience if I am to love as God commands. Then, I practice patience as I forgive them, as I serve them without expectation, and as I wait on God’s timing to grow them.

How can I practice patience in changing circumstances? First, I can acknowledge that God is in control of all things. “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” right? Then, I can keep my eyes fixed upon Him to guide my response. I can wait “patiently and bravely” for my circumstances to change in His perfect timing.

“I waited patiently for the LORD. He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me up out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”   Psalm 40:1-2

Lord, help me practice patience with the small interruptions and inconveniences, so I can trust you with the bigger challenges that life brings. Still my heart to trust your mighty hand upon my life and the lives of those around me. Grant me the peace that trusting patience brings.