Unraveled.

“I’m feeling unraveled.”  I’ve heard this statement several times in the last few days… from others, and from my own mouth.

The image that comes immediately to my mind, of course, is one of a rope: One strong cord made of hundreds of strands, their strength together proving infinitely greater than each individual thread; but it's cut, bluntly, without care or concern.  I see those strands slowly separating from the others, bravely reaching out, pitifully unaware of their weakness once separated from the rest.  The rope has lost its strength, and as it continues to unravel, it will lose its very identity and existence.

Another image flashes to mind: I see a beautiful cashmere sweater brought to destruction by the smallest and most seemingly insignificant snag; the yarn slowly works its way free, the cavity getting bigger and bigger, the devastation slowly spreading.  Before I even realize it, I have nothing left that resembles the original; only an unidentifiable pile of yarn, limp and without form, useless and discarded.

I’ve equated this to my friends, and my own, current circumstances, emotions, and journey…. That which I have carefully crafted, what has been held together by unseen forces, slowly unraveling, to a shapeless, unidentifiable, weak pile of nothing. 

Or, is it? 

My dictionary reveals two very different definitions for the word unravel…

1.       To separate or disentangle the threads of a woven or knitted fabric, a rope, etc

2.       To free from complication or difficulty; make plain or clear; simplify; solve.

Wow.

What if, instead of looking at my unraveling circumstances and emotions through the lens of definition number one, I look at them through the lens of definition two?  What if I’m not being made into a mess… what if I’m being freed from it?  Instead of this unraveling making things more complicated, what if it is actually making things plain and clear?  Breaking the complex into the simple, freeing me up to move, grow, change, and be made into more of His image and less of my own.  What if the end result is not a weak pile of nothing, but rather a softer, more easily crafted and more beautifully presented reflection of His hands and feet? 

Oh, that it may be! Lord, keep unraveling me!

(note: nothing big is happening. i'm not leaving. i'm healthy and content. please don't freak out. this is just what was on my heart to write today.....k)