A TAPESTRY OF GRACE

Introduction

tapestry: a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colored threads are woven by hand to produce a design, often pictorial, used for wall hangings, furniture coverings, etc..

Life is but a Weaving

My life is but a weaving Between my God and me. I cannot choose the colors He weaveth steadily.

Oft’ times He weaveth sorrow; And I in foolish pride Forget He sees the upper And I the underside.

Not ’til the loom is silent And the shuttles cease to fly Will God unroll the canvas And reveal the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful In the weaver’s skillful hand As the threads of gold and silver In the pattern He has planned

He knows, He loves, He cares; Nothing this truth can dim. He gives the very best to those Who leave the choice to Him.

Corrie ten Boom

The Long-Awaited Birth of Isaac

In this passage, we see the Lord visited Sarah, as He said. The Lord did to Sarah, as He promised. Isaac was born at the time of which God had spoken to him.

The Lord keeps His word and fulfills His promises.

Numbers 23:19 “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

See Isaiah 46:8-11...

Habakkuk 2:3 “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”

Malachi 3:6 ““For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.”

Laughter from the Lord

Abraham laughed when God told him that Sarah would bear him a son (Genesis 17:17). Sarah laughed when she heard that she would bear a son in her old age (Genesis 18:12-15). So the Lord told them that the child would be called Isaac (Genesis 17:19), which means “laughter” or “he laughs”. Because Isaac’s name was given by God, he never received a name change like his father and son did. And now God’s promise is fulfilled, and the Lord brought joy and laughter to their lives, as He had said.

John 16:21–22 “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

Divine Protection for Ishmael and Hagar

Abraham’s family faces the earthly consequences of sin.

Genesis 4:7 “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.””

James 1:14–15 “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”

God can bring good things out of a bad situation.

Genesis 50:20 “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The Lord hears and remembers.

Genesis 16:10 “The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.””

Genesis 17:20 “As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.”

God was the one who had originally told Hagar to name her son Ishmael, which means “God hears”, because the Lord had listened to her affliction. And now He had heard their affliction again and was quick to come to the rescue.

Fear not… I will make him into a great nation… God was with the boy...

Peace With Abimelech

Abimelech sees God’s blessing on Abraham and desires long-term peace.

Here we see the Lord keeping His promises to make Abraham’s name great, to bless him, to make him a blessing, to bless those who bless him, to curse those who dishonor him, and to bless the families of the earth through him (see Genesis 12:1-3).

Jeremiah 34:18–19 “And the men who transgressed my covenant and did not keep the terms of the covenant that they made before me, I will make them like the calf that they cut in two and passed between its parts— the officials of Judah, the officials of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, the priests, and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf.”

Beersheba means “well of oath” or “well of seven”.

The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling. The circumstances surrounding our lives are no accident: they may be the work of evil, but that evil is held firmly within the mighty hand of our sovereign God… All evil is subject to Him, and evil cannot touch His children unless He permits it. God is the Lord of human history and of the personal history of every member of His redeemed family… He does not explain His actions to us any more than He did to Job, but He has given us what the sufferers of old never had- the written revelation of His sovereignty and love and His manifestation of Himself in the Savior. If those saints could triumph so gloriously without such revelation, shall we who have it go down to defeat? Margaret Clarkson

See Isaiah 40:28-31...