As Life Seems to Unravel…

Sometimes, life feels like nothing more than a mess of tangled knots and loose ends. It can feel like our lives are unraveling, and we’re unraveling along with them.

And yet, this twisted picture of everything coming undone isn’t the full picture. Perhaps if we pulled back the curtain and saw the end results, we would have a different idea about our life circumstances. Maybe we would realize that these tangled knots and loose ends are only a snapshot of an unfinished process.

Amidst the uncertainties, it can be easy to forget that life goes on. Life is more than just a single moment; it’s a whole series of moments that blend into an entire story.

Our stories were written by the Author of the Universe, and they were written with purpose. We were put right how, right now, for a reason, even if we can’t see it yet.

Our stories were written by the Author of the Universe, and they were written with purpose.

We have hope for our stories when we remember our Author’s promise to us. It’s a promise of redemption. It’s a promise that this broken world will be made new.

In John 16, Jesus reminds us of this promise by saying, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV). We don’t have to fear the messy, broken parts of our lives or our world. Instead, we can look at our tangled knots and loose ends with a different perspective.

We can look at them through a lens of hope, knowing that we’ll be able to see how all the aspects of our stories come together. We’ll be able to see how all our loose ends get tied together.

Our lives aren’t unraveling. Our lives are just in that messy stage of being woven into something beautiful—something more perfect than we could ever imagine.

And as we wait in this messy stage, we must “run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2, NKJV).  We must remember that we aren’t alone in this race.

We have someone who will shield us from the pain.

We have someone who will fight for us in our struggles.

We have someone who will guide us down life’s road.

We have someone who will pursue us when we run away in shame.

We have someone who will carry us through the valleys and onto the mountains.

And we have someone Who is holding our lives together, and holding us together, as everything seems to fall apart.

We have Jesus, and we must trust Him. We must trust that He’s always there for us. We must trust that someday, somehow, He will weave a beautiful tapestry out of all these loose ends.