A tourist to Brussels eager to see how some of the world’s renowned lace was manufactured, was taken into a small, unassuming building where he was introduced to the plant manager. He was directed to the workroom in the basement where the only light penetrating the basement workroom came through several narrow windows in the top of the exterior wall slightly above street level. Taped to the windows were exquisite intricate patterns. The workers sat at tables facing the windows working in relative darkness. This visitor, accustomed to seeing our well-lit work spaces, asked why there was so little light. The manager responded, “Centuries of experience have taught us that the finest lace is produced when the workers were in the dark and the pattern is in the light. We often find ourselves in the dark. We don’t always get answers to our questions. God holds the pattern of our life and our world and through it His light shines. There is comfort in knowing that God sees the big picture. In that I find rest, even when some of the big why questions in life go unanswered. I love these words from the scripture, “Even though they slay me, yet will I trust Him.” When you know God is good, when you know God’s heart is love, when you know Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected from the dead, then you can know that, no matter what happens to you today and how hard it is or how dark it may be, God still has a beautiful future for you.
– Dr. Tim Thompson