Recently, I re-read the story of Corrie Ten Boom. Though well known in her native Holland, her story was not widely disseminated until it was brought to the attention of the larger world by Billy Graham back in the 1970’s. If you are not familiar with the testimony of this genuine Christian saint, please check into her story. It will most assuredly bless you.
Ms. Ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place, sold well over two million copies; and was later made into a feature length movie. It tells the story of her underground work against the occupying Nazis on behalf of her persecuted countrymen during World War Two.
Eventually betrayed, she and her family were sent to a succession of prisons and eventually to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Her father and her sister both died, but she survived the ordeal. Suffice to say that her story of struggle and persecution is riveting. More than this, it is an inspiring story of faith commitment.
In the decades after the war, she spoke all over the world about the need for Christian forgiveness, compassion, and conviction. In her travels and speaking engagements, she often quoted the following poem, written by Benjamin Malachi Franklin and titled The Master Weaver’s Plan, which was first published in ‘The Memphis Commercial Appeal’ newspaper in 1950.
I hope it inspires you during difficult times even as it has countless others.
My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.
For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the underside.
Sometimes He weaves in sorrow,
Which seems so strange to me;
But I will trust His judgment
And work on faithfully.
‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,
And He knows what is best;
So I shall weave in earnest,
And leave to Him the rest.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.*
*SOURCE: http://www.meetmeinthemeadow.com/2012/02/
the-master-weavers-plan/.
Ms. Ten Boom’s book, The Hiding Place, sold well over two million copies; and was later made into a feature length movie. It tells the story of her underground work against the occupying Nazis on behalf of her persecuted countrymen during World War Two.
Eventually betrayed, she and her family were sent to a succession of prisons and eventually to Ravensbruck Concentration Camp. Her father and her sister both died, but she survived the ordeal. Suffice to say that her story of struggle and persecution is riveting. More than this, it is an inspiring story of faith commitment.
In the decades after the war, she spoke all over the world about the need for Christian forgiveness, compassion, and conviction. In her travels and speaking engagements, she often quoted the following poem, written by Benjamin Malachi Franklin and titled The Master Weaver’s Plan, which was first published in ‘The Memphis Commercial Appeal’ newspaper in 1950.
I hope it inspires you during difficult times even as it has countless others.
My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.
For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the underside.
Sometimes He weaves in sorrow,
Which seems so strange to me;
But I will trust His judgment
And work on faithfully.
‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,
And He knows what is best;
So I shall weave in earnest,
And leave to Him the rest.
Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.*
*SOURCE: http://www.meetmeinthemeadow.com/2012/02/
the-master-weavers-plan/.