This week our youngest child Isaac and I have been learning about ancient China, and as it happened the beginnings of the silk trade. According to well established Chinese legend Empress Hsi Ling Shi, wife of Emperor Huang Ti was the first person to discover silk as a wearable fabric.
One day whilst having a cup of tea under her Mulberry tree, a cocoon fell into her cup and began to unravel. The Empress noticed the shimmering silken threads and upon holding one end of the thread began to walk around her garden, unravelling the threads from the cocoon as she walked. She called her dressmaker and asked if it was possible to weave a garment from these unusual threads for her husband the Emperor, which she did. The Empress soon after developed sericulture, the cultivation of silkworms and invented the reel and the loom, thus beginning the history of silk.
The Empress’ great reaction and attitude to what actually was an unsavory event in her day of having a worm in a cocoon drop into the cup of tea she was enjoying, is actually how I think God wants us to be about life in general. Instead of throwing everything up in the air, having a hissy fit and demanding another cup of tea, it seems the Empress looked at what was in front of her, stopped to notice what she held in her hands and quickly saw an opportunity to create something which was both beautiful and profitable to not just her personally, but her entire Kingdom.
Life happens all around us and some of those happenings can look like disasters or negatives at first glance. However if we are going to take God at His Word and His promise that, “He works all things together for our good” (Romans 8:28), then I figure God wants us to get in the habit of looking for the “silver or silk lining” when things don’t go according to plan or people and events take an unsavory turn. To ask, “what can I learn from this, how can I grow, what is God trying to say, and is there an opportunity here that perhaps I’m not seeing?”
Sometimes we may not recognize God’s hand working immediately, but from experience and according to everything in His Word, He always is. He does always have the final say…what He has begun in us He will complete. “He can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset His plans.” (Job 42:2 The Message)
“For I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things which have not yet been done, Saying, “My purpose will be established and I will do all that pleases Me and fulfills My purpose…(Isaiah 46:89-10 Amplified )
Today be encouraged that God sees, He is ultimately in control and He always has love and blessing on His heart and mind for you. Next time you face a challenge, something you didn’t expect or even an unsavory or negative circumstance, take a moment to reflect on the Empress Hsi Ling Shi’s discovery from what no doubt was not what she had planned or expected, and choose to look for God’s hand at work in your every circumstance. Be open to those unexpected opportunities and the chance to grow and develop. You may very well discover just like the Empress your own “silken threads” leading you to far more blessing and opportunity than you could ever have imagined. (Ephesians 3:20)
“Never doubt Gods mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for His miraculous power constantly energizes you.” (Ephesians 3:20 TPT)
Prayer: Lord please help me to see things with the perspective that you always have the final say and will work good out of every circumstance. I expect great things to appear in my life and opportunities to open up for me today. In Jesus name Amen.