One Single Thread

I regarded the tapestry displayed on the wall, first noticing how beautifully colorful it was, and then seeing how also intricate it was. If you looked close enough, you could see the one sparkling thread that made the whole piece shimmer. That thread by itself would not be remarkable, but without that thread woven into he tapestry, the masterpiece would certainly be much less remarkable. It is almost as if the string is nothing by itself, but when woven into the tapestry, it makes the whole design extraordinary.  

In Hebrews 11, the "Hall of Faith", I might have noticed something I never noticed before - a little sparkling thread that weaves all the stories of these great heroes of faith together. I used to think that single thread was faith. It is faith that connects them all, but when I look closer, I see how this one hread shimmers and sparkles. I begin to see something more. 

The one common thing made their faith extraordinary is this: a hope in something not yet seen or received. Even from the very beginning of the chapter, the author defines faith as "being certain of things we do not yet see." 

Noah believed that a flood was coming, even when he couldn't see it. 

Abram set out to a land that he had not yet seen. 

Sarah believed she would have a child that she could not yet see. 

To dig even deeper, many of these heroes of faith never even received what they were promised, not to say that God failed, but because to say that he fulfilled it at a later time in his sovereignty. 

Abraham was promised offspring as numerous as the sand and the stars, but he never saw that promise fulfilled with his own two eyes. 

Moses saw the land that was promised to the Israelites, but he never entered it. 

Verse 13 confirms this when it says, "These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." 

It makes me wonder if even these great heroes of the faith arrived at the end of their lives and wondered, "Did I do this right? Did I live life right? Did I live up to what God has called me to do even if I don't see the promise fulfilled?" 

It makes me not feel so alone when I ask the same questions. I don't think I'm the only one (I hope not!) who feels this way - who wants to do something big with my life for God, who wants to see the fruit of my labor for him, who wants to see all promises fulfilled in my lifetime. I want to be a missionary nurse, I want to see people come to Christ, I want to see the church's grow and poverty diminish in Burkina Faso. 

But what if God wants us to be like Moses, to lead the Israelites all the way to the promised land, yet never enter it ourselves? What if he wants to use us to till the ground and turn the soil, even if we never get to see the harvest? What if he wants us to be one single red thread in his grand tapestry of his plan for the entire world? 

And so I have these conversations with God that sound like this:

But God, I just want to do something big for you! I'm here in Africa, but it's not exactly what I imagined it to be, and sometimes I wonder if I'm doing any good at all. I had dreams of doing so much more, things that seemed "bigger" or "more important", so why I am not seeing those dreams fulfilled? 

But Ashli, what if I need you to be a single shimmering string in my tapestry? Are you satisfied to be just that for me? 

And I realize in that moment that of course I am. 

Will you trust me with the things you can't yet see? Will you be patient enough to wait to see my promises fulfilled? And will you trust me to fulfill them even if it is not in your lifetime? 

And I realize in that moment that of course I will. 

Somewhere along the lines, I've tricked myself into thinking that God's pleasure in us is based off how much we do for him. The bigger, the better, right? But that's not how the kingdom works, and we can breathe a breath of fresh air and sigh a sigh of relief and delight when we realize that our lives are like single silvery threads, and that's exactly what God wants us to be. 

We, too, can join the heroes in hall of faith by believing in the things we can't yet see and have not yet received. We can "welcome them from afar" and be satisfied and content in being a single shimmering thread in a far greater tapestry, knowing that God's faithfulness surpasses the timeline of our lives and goes into eternity. We are nothing remarkable on our own, but when God weaves us into his story for the salvation of the world, something shines out of us, even if we are but one shimmering thread.