TapestrySample

Acceptance: The Weaving

Relationships begin and end. Some are forged in a fire, while others are seemingly irreparably broken. Hurt and pain occur in all families. Even through brokenness and rejection, the grace and goodness of God can bring restoration.

We often do not understand why relationships end or what we could have done to change the outcome of the relationship. We fail to consider that these relationships are just threads that must be woven into the tapestry of our lives. Some of those threads are there to stay and make up an entire part of the picture, but others are just small threads that only provide a measure of dimension to our tapestry. The brokenness and rejection of a relationship are only a part of the tapestry—not the whole—unless we choose to make it the entire tapestry. It is our choice. Everyone has to choose what to do with the circumstances that occur. We can take the circumstances, the brokenness, and the rejection and weave our entire lives around their pain, or we can allow God to make it only a portion of our lives that He can use.

In Genesis 37:18-28, we read part of the story of Joseph. He was a favored son of Jacob (the Deceiver) and Rachel. Joseph was also known as the Dreamer. He received dreams and visions from God, and his telling of those dreams to his family often got him into trouble with them! As a result of his favored status and his dreams, the sibling rivalry became unmanageable, and his brothers placed him into a pit, possibly planning to leave him there indefinitely. His brother Reuben intended to return to the pit and rescue him, but Reuben was too late. Joseph had been sold into slavery, and another portion of the tapestry for Joseph had been put into action.

His captors probably beat Joseph repeatedly, enduring great suffering and shame. His ability to withstand the beatings and shame would have made him a more valuable commodity and commanded a higher price. Prisoners easily and quickly lost their dignity. However, Joseph had a dream from God, and that dream took him through difficulty. Joseph’s dream first plummeted him into the pit, but ultimately it raised him out.

When you awake in difficulty and find yourself a slave or a prisoner because of the machinations of someone else, don’t give up on the dream that God has given you. God is not yet finished. The plan of God is at work. The hurt may be deep. The circumstances may feel insurmountable, but God is at work. He is still weaving a tapestry, and it is not yet finished.

All restoration begins with forgiveness, not bitterness. We are told again and again throughout God’s Word to forgive as we have been forgiven (Matthew 6:14, Ephesians 4:32, and Colossians 3:14). When Joseph saw his family for the first time in many years, he had somehow already released the anger and bitterness that could have dwelled in his heart. He somehow positioned himself so God could use him to help his family and begin the restoration process.