The Backside of the Tapestry
According to Christianity Today, the top 3 objections to faith each have to do with pain… “Why is there evil?”, “Why is there suffering?”, and “Why does hell exist?” The heart of each of these questions is “Why would a loving, good God allow His children to suffer…either on earth or in eternity?” Yet suffering is an ever-present reality, and when it occurs, the temptation is to question either God’s love or His goodness.
Naomi must have felt a combination of both as she relayed her emotions to Ruth. Her outlook as a destitute widow was bleak. The loss of her husband and sons, compounded with poverty, would be overwhelming under any circumstances, but particularly so at that time in history. She had no hope. She did not feel God’s love or His goodness. She felt only her own pain, and this translated into disillusionment. It was easy to believe the worst.
“…the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” (Ruth 1:13)
“…call me Mara for the Lord has dealt very bitterly with me.” (Ruth 1:20)
Limited by time and space, Naomi could not see what the omnipresent, omniscient, Almighty God could. He knew she was on a path to blessing beyond her wildest imagination. She would not only be provided for financially but also blessed with a new family, including a grandson reckoned to her as a “son,” who would be grandfather to King David and in the direct lineage of Christ. Naomi didn’t know it, but the Lord had good things planned for her. He promises that “all things work together for good,” but never that all things ARE good. The struggle is real.
A wonderful visual illustration of this truth is the front and back sides of a tapestry. Viewed from the front, every stitch is in place and the colored threads come together to form a cohesive, intentional, and beautiful piece of art. This is the finished work, the side that faces outward for others to enjoy, but the underside tells a very different story. It is a tangled mess of knots and loose ends that do not create a picture of anything. It appears random, careless, and chaotic. And yet, the mess of the underside forms the beauty of the top side. It all works together somehow and is perhaps even necessary to create the beauty the artist had in mind.
If you’ve endured sickness, loss, heartbreak, or pain, you know what the backside of the tapestry feels like. You’ve walked a few miles in Naomi’s shoes. But do you believe that there is a beautiful design, skillfully woven by a benevolent Artisan, on the side that you cannot see? Will you move forward in faith, as Ruth did, trusting that God sees your pain and will not waste a drop of it? Be encouraged that He is working things out in a way that you can’t yet perceive. The end result will be beautiful and redemptive, far eclipsing the mess lying beneath.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:17-18)
~ Melissa Gibbs has been a member of LIFE Fellowship for over 10 years, is the mother to four boys and widow of the late JD Gibbs. She also is a founding board member of Ambassador Christian School.