It takes many threads woven together precisely that makes the difference between a nice print in a fabric or a masterpiece.
Sometimes we get so busy with our day to day living and the things need completed that seem to never end that getting to Church becomes a problem. Maybe we don’t go at all or maybe the entire time we’re sitting there we are thinking of the things that we feel we SHOULD be doing or maybe COULD be doing if we weren't’t setting there. Maybe we are in church in body but not in spirit.
While it is true that we are in God’s presence where ever we are it is only when the body of Christ, a group of believers, come together that great and mighty things can be accomplished.
Perhaps you’ve heard the analogy that life is like a tapestry that is being woven we see it from the bottom side but God sees it from the finished side. It doesn’t always make sense from the side we get to see it but if we could see the side God sees it would make perfect sense and would be beautiful.
Well, today I got a slightly different understanding of the tapestry. Maybe you have already considered this but for me, it was a clearer understanding. I guess there have been times that I haven’t always known where or how I fit into the scheme of things. Then there have been other times I've felt unimportant or not needed and still other times that I've thought a little more of myself that I should. Now I see it as:
Each one of us are a strand, a thread being woven into that tapestry. It takes each one of us yielding to be placed where and when we are needed to form the completed project.
For one of us to say, ‘I don’t want to be here, I want to be there’ or ‘next week I’ll be there but it doesn’t suit me today…’ oh my what a mess we can make in the scheme of things.
We each need to yield to be where and when we are needed to be that we may compliment each other.
Add to that idea the fact that in the weaving of threads, each individual thread may not be noticeable because they are woven together, intertwined. But - when one thread, one strand is missing or is removed the bareness of that spot makes it painfully obvious. The project is not complete - it’s missing something or someone.
Is that someone you?
When you don’t feel like going to Church or Bible study or any other gathering of Christians it may be wise to stop and consider:
Do I participate for me - or - for the body of Christ. Do I attend strictly to build up myself or to build up and encourage others?
Because honestly, you may get by just fine not being there or maybe you’re starting to stray off track and are not even aware of it. But, there may be someone there that truly needs YOUR touch, YOUR encouragement, YOUR prayers. God has gifted each of us with certain abilities for a purpose. When we are obedient and reach out to one another, become intertwined - if you will. We become stronger. A single strand is fragile and can break easily but several strands intertwined give strength to one another.
I’m guilty of this. There are times I chose not to participate because I’m busy or I just need some down time to relax, or at least that’s how I feel. Times like that I forget that I’m part of the scheme and that when I remove myself the fabric is weakened, flawed. Not that it can’t go on without me because it can. There will just be an empty space where I should have been. And, someone else may be weaker because they didn’t receive the added strength from one that was needed.
Maybe that’s part of it too, maybe we don’t realize how much we are needed. Perhaps we don’t feel needed so our being there doesn’t matter much one way or the other. We do all need to be needed and sometimes we really do need that down time to come to the Father and be restored. But, before you choose to remain behind next time, stop and pray about it. Consider if it’s you or if your Heavenly Father is calling you aside for time with him.
