Carll F.

Ochoa 05-10-20 Reading Reflection

Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us Through the Events of Our Lives

This book, "Grand Weaver" by Ravi Zacharias, made me ponder on what God is doing to mold
me by the circumstances of my life. This book made me reflect on my uniqueness as God's
creation. I realized that God designed every aspect of my life for His purpose, even the things I
think in me that are flaws. This recognition leads to the contentment of what God has given me
and to use it to His purpose. Further, sometimes we find our momentary troubles irrelevant to
the purposes of God in our lives, as hindrances to the good intentions of God for us. But the
author tells us that even our disappointments matter and profitable to shape us according to
his will. These unfavorable circumstances of our lives develop our faith in Him, strengthen our
minds, and make us meditate on the suffering of Christ, seeing every event in light of the
cross. Moreover, because God authors our calling, our calling must be significant to us. Giving
importance to God's calling is to submit to his plan and discover where he wants us to be. We
determine our God-given calling by immersing ourselves in prayer, living in humility, seeking
the wisdom of godly people, and committing ourselves in exalting Christ in everything we do.
Furthermore, morality also matters in our lives, boundaries that God has determined for his
creation. However, submission to God's moral standards should not attempt to reconcile us to
God, but as an expression of loving commitment to God who redeemed us into a covenantal
relationship with Him through his Son. God's moral standards do not restrain us but boundaries
that he has designed for all our choices. Furthermore, what I learned from this book about
God's design for our spirituality is that Christ is central to it. Spirituality, not based on the truth
(i.e., Christ and scriptures) leads to legalistic or superstitious expressions, and thus false
spirituality. Moreover, in the topic of human will, I learned that in submitting our will to God's, it
is necessary to realize that it is God who works in us by His Spirit, and thus we can do his will
in our lives. Further, to see his patience and the manifestation of his love in our lives should
prompt us to faithfulness in serving him. Moreover, this book tells that worship is prime and
vital in human experience. And when God as the focus, we experience real pleasure and
meaning in our worship. Our destiny also matters. And as Christians, whom God conforms to
the image of Christ must also see himself like Christ, whose home is with the Father.