The Back Side

I finished up the color green! While you still can't tell what the picture will be on the front side, things are coming together to form something orderly and significant. Then I flipped the canvas over to look at the back side:

Actually, it doesn't look too bad, does it? I try to keep the stitches neat and as close together as possible in the back - this helps the canvas stay smooth and flat, and I think it makes each strand last longer and go farther on the front side, too. But still, being inverted and jumbled, it's hard to make out what is happening. Compared to the front, this is a bit chaotic - and will become increasingly chaotic as I add more clarity and definition to the front. There are loose ends, overlapping strands, stitches that go in different directions, and stitches that stretch across more space to get from one point to another. As much as I want the back to look okay, I know that it doesn't have to look pristine and perfect. The purpose of the back side is to get the embroidery floss where it needs to be on the front side, and what is most important is what the picture is becoming... 

I'm thinking about the back side of my canvas today, because I've been thinking a lot about the "back side of my life journey" lately. If my life were a canvas, I could say that I prefer to be on the front side, controlling the stitches and benefiting from having access to the big-picture pattern. But when I submit my life to the will of my Creator, I give the "needle and thread" to God, and let him re-position me to look at the back side of the canvas. From this perspective, I can sometimes see how His hand is moving, but mostly I am confounded by just glimpsing scattered bits and pieces, unsure of what He's creating... Why did he choose that color? Where is he going with this stitch? Why does he keep going over that same spot? How long is this string, when will it end, and what will come next?

And throughout all my doubts, confusion, and questions, He knows the plan, He has a clear view of how to accomplish it, and He is bringing order and significance to all that appears to me to be chaos.

Be praised, O Lord, by this work of Your hands!

Listening to: "The Color Green," by Rich Mullins