An Ugly Mess or Beautiful Design?

John 13:7 Jesus said: “You do not understand what I am doing now, but later you will understand.”

It was just hours before Jesus would be arrested, have to face a phony trial, and be brutally killed by crucifixion. He and His disciples were gathered together at the “Last Supper” in the upper room. Jesus then takes it upon Himself to get up from the table, take a towel and a basin of water, and then to proceed to wash each of His disciples’ feet! This was a task that the lowliest servant would be assigned, and yet the master, the rabbi, the divine, miracle-working, Son of God Himself, takes this task upon Himself?! “What in the world are you doing Jesus?!” The apostle Peter tried to stop Jesus. “NO, Lord! You shall NEVER wash MY feet!” To which Jesus then calmly responds: “You do not understand what I am doing now, but later you will understand.”

These words were fitting, not only to that foot-washing, but to all of the events that would take place in the following days. Peter and the disciples would be confused, dumbfounded, disappointed, and terrified. They would watch in horror as Jesus would be arrested, tortured, and crucified. They must have wondered how things got so bad, so quickly. How did this turn out to be such an ugly mess?!

The story is told of a man who was visiting a fabric factory. The owner of the factory took the man out on the production floor and they stopped before a giant loom reaching from the floor to the ceiling. It was whirring and humming – with spindles spinning, and shuttles flying back and forth, and yet, as the man looked at the fabric being made, all he could see was a jumble of threads and yarn, loose ends in a mish-mash of color. “What an ugly mess! I think your machine must be broken. Who would want this fabric?!” exclaimed the man to the factory owner. With a chuckle, the factory owner motioned to the man and said, “You are not seeing it from the right side! Come over here and look!” The two men then walked around to the other side of the machine and there the man saw the true nature of the fabric. It was a flowing, balanced, beautiful design! It was fabric of the highest quality. It was just that they had been seeing it from the wrong side. From the back you wouldn’t be able to understand what was being formed – but when viewing it from the other side, you would see the beautiful design that was being produced.

This is similar to Jesus’ passion and death. From an earthly, human viewpoint, it all seemed like an ugly mess. But from God’s perspective and plan – from eternity’s viewpoint – this was the beautiful design for our salvation! This is also the case for us in our lives, with the challenges and difficulties we face. At times, from our viewpoint, we echo Peter’s sentiment in that upper room: “What in the world are you doing Lord! This is all wrong – this is an ugly mess!” When we begin to feel in such a way as this, the words that Jesus spoke to Peter also apply to us: “You do not understand now, but you will later!”

As we look at our own lives and situations, it might appear like the back side of that fabric. It might look like an ugly mess. But God sees our lives and the situations from the other side. He sees His own design and plan being produced in the lives of His people – and it is a thing of beauty! When we face those ugly messes in our lives, we have comfort in knowing that God has not forsaken or abandoned us. From our perspective, it might appear that way, but God has promised us: “I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) He has said: “All things work together for the good of those who love God.” (Romans 8:28) Just as it was with Jesus’ own suffering and death, the things that appear from this side to be an ugly mess will be, from God’s view, part of His beautiful design!

Be encouraged by this! Even though we might only see an ugly mess, we can trust that God is with us in our lives. He is working in spite of – and through – the ugliness to produce something beautiful!

And so we can look forward to that day when we will get to have that other perspective – from the “other side” – as we will have the viewpoint from Heaven for ourselves; we might then understand and see God’s beautiful design!