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

This is a great book! Zacharias is able to take very complex theological ideas and apply them straight to your everyday life. He writes with a depth that is very unusual and, at the same time, puts things in a way that is very understandable. He is thoroughly biblical and devoted to Jesus as Lord. He writes with great rationale explanations. Whether you are a seasoned follower of Jesus, just starting out, or very uncertain about it all, there's something in this book that you will find useful.

Great book! Delivered as promised.

This book is full of very helpful and encouraging thoughts and insights into how God is working in my life to bring me closer to Him. It helps one organize different aspects of one's spiritual life and to depend on God and His principles to discover how they work out in practical ways. Many examples are given before or after a principle is discussed to illustrate how God works with our decisions and activities to bring about His will. This shows how we can miss and be excluded from, or observe, listen, obey and be included in God's will. Showing with examples how God's plan for our particular lives is part of His overall plan for the lives we touch and all of humanity. Very well written by one of the great thinkers of our time and relevant for our present days. I will go back to it for reminders and encouragement. I read the Kindle version, but will now buy it in book form to share with others.

Book started off good but his wandered off without sticking with the premise. Ravi Zacharias is the founder and chairman of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He is a renowned Christian speaker, radio host, and author of many books. In this book, Zacharias explores how differently people would live if they believed that God weaves each of their lives as a purposeful design through every event of our lives. In that design, no thread would be wrongly woven. Summary The book is divided into eight chapters with an appendix that answers the twenty five 'Key Questions’ which Zacharias presents. Every story is followed by an explanation grounded in scripture to illustrate that God uses our strengths and shortcomings, our circumstances and events as threads to weave the design. In the chapter “Our DNA,” he explains how uniquely each of our identities is shaped by our DNA. Our face and features are part of our unique identity. Every little feature and "accident" of your personality matters. Consider it God's sovereign imprint on you (28). We need to accept and celebrate our personality, because this begins our understanding of the Grand Weaver's design for our lives. "God loves you as one who loves his own offspring" (29). He then goes on in the chapter on human disappointments and discusses how disappointments are used to shape our lives. “The problem of pain has remained the single greatest question, not only for the skeptic who uses it as an excuse to doubt God's existence, but also for the believer who questions God's purpose" (34-35). The hurt you live through will always shape you. There is no other way (40). For example, the Bible calls Job a perfect man (Job 1:1). How could he earn such a description if he had not yet been subjected to the tests necessary for perfection? Perfection, then, is not a change in the essential character, but a completion of a course. You cannot always live on the mountaintop, but when you walk through the valley, the memory of the view from the mountain will sustain you and give you strength to carry you through. (41). In the next chapter on callings, Zacharias says that God reinforces our call as we respond to His nod (60). Our calling determines the legacy we leave behind. In the chapter on morality, he explains that we cannot escape the need for morals and brigs up discussions about who creates morals. In the chapter covering spirituality, he explains how emerging spirituality uses language that is politically correct so that you don’t offend anyone. "It used to be said, ‘It can't be wrong when it feels so right’. Now it may be said, ‘If you believe it, it has to be right’" (93). In the book of Acts, the Athenians had setup altars to any and every god that they could find. They even set up an extra altar for the “unknown god”, just in case they had missed some deity and offended it (see Acts 17:16, 23). This is precisely the nature of spirituality today (95). Jesus challenged three different types of spirituality: traditionalism, legalism, and superstition. Each has its own particular attraction and error (96). It is truth that separates true spirituality from false spirituality. In the chapter on human will, Zacharias points out that our will has an important part in the making of the design of our lives. Rightly understood, it yields humility; wrongly understood, it yields arrogance. Zacharias lays out what he calls “the ABCDs of a willful walk with the Lord”, which are, “Ask without pettiness, ‘Being before doing’, ‘Convictions without compromise’, and ‘Discipline without dreariness” (123). He also adds, “Discipline is both the blessing and the bane of our lives”. In the chapter on worship, Zacharias talks about how worship is an important thread when it comes to making a pattern in the design of life. Worship is the primary thread that pulls the many threads of life into a beautiful whole. "If this thread is absent, nothing holds the design together when it comes under stress or gets strained by tension" (132-3). He concludes the book with a discussion on eternal life in heaven and says that we have a need to know God and to be known by God. In the epilogue we read, “Life is lived forward, but understood backward.” If we were to see the final design in prospect, we would find ourselves acting on the basis of self-love and pragmatism—and then who would need faith? God often reinforces our faith after we trust Him, not before. Critical Analysis In the introduction he explains that the purpose of this book is to bring to human understanding the limitations of comprehension of the divine and the infinite. I learn a lot from experiences in life, but fail to understand the purpose of events if taken in pieces. His book establishes that the most important thread of life is truth, yet the death of truth has been the single greatest casualty of our time. “In no segment of our society can we survive without truth” (104). Zacharias argues that the main thread that connects all the other threads together is worship. I believe worship also ties in to what you believe. As such faith is the main thread that allows you to see the overall design. Conclusion This book is a good read for those who are on the quest to find answers to critical questions like “why do bad things happen?” or “what is the ultimate purpose in life? Christians believe that events such as deaths and births are guided by the hand of God, yet we drift into feeling that our daily lives are the product of our own efforts. This book, with several inspiring stories and insights, shows us otherwise. On the other hand, this book may not make good read for a non-Christian.

This is my first read of Zacharias and I found his writing style pleasing and open. The book addresses the question of whether the threads of our lives are accidentally tangled or intentionally arranged. I am not sure if he completely answered that question, but he certainly offers valuable insight. I have written many times (as have others) that life is lived forward, but understood backward. In a section called Hindsight, the author offers excellent insight. “God reinforces his call as we respond to his nod. If we were to see the final design in prospect, we would find ourselves acting on the basis of self-love and pragmatism—and then who would need faith? God often reinforces our faith after we trust Him, not before.” In his ABCDs of a willful walk with the Lord, he puts forth: “Ask without pettiness, Being before doing, Convictions without compromise, and Discipline without dreariness.” And then this—“Hardly anyone likes the word discipline. It is both the blessing and the bane of our lives”. Though he does not delve deeply, I learned a lot about other religions and more about the story of two of Abraham’s sons, Isaac and Ishmael, whose descendants are now wreaking havoc on the world. This book is worth your time. I will read his other books.

I read this book very quickly. I simply couldn't put it down. The author shows how God is involved in our lives and leads us even though we may not realize it at the time. I found his stories that illustrate these points wonderfully woven with the lessons, those of his childhood in India and other people's. His description of a father & son team making a beautiful sari is unforgettable. If an ordinary weaver can make such beautiful work, he asks, "won't our Heavenly Father have a design in life for us, a design that will adorn us as he uses our lives to fashion us for His purpose, using all the threads within His reach?" I was so fascinated by this book which must be read a few times for everything to sink in, that I also read "Walking from East to West" his autobiography.

We all want immediate changes to happen in our lives, but God is in charge of our destiny. Obviously if we make free will decisions that could impact the outcome, overall we need to learn we are just where we need to be at this moment in time and trust that the outcome will be the best. It may not be the outcome we want but it is best at the time

This is a well written book, unsurprisingly so. Ravi Zacharias always has a unique and logical way of putting things into perspective and I would say this book is a must read for everyone, especially so if you are someone who has been brushed aside at church/by fellow believers as utterly worthless. As a Christian, I have often been at the wrong end of snide remarks, unnecessary prying and being judged and dismissed by the very people who are supposed to be a support system and I’m sure I am not alone. This book has been a help and an encouragement and I would highly recommend this book if you are in a similar position or you are going through/has gone through a lot of tough situations in life. Dr. Zacharias’s arguments are compelling, his explanations are well rooted in scriptures (there are frequent references to verses) and his narrative is speckled with anecdotes, just like his talks. A must read when life doesn’t make much sense or you have a lot of questions about the way events and experiences are routing your future. The content is as follows: Introduction 1. Your DNA Matters 2. Your Disappointments Matter 3. Your Calling Matters 4. Your Morality Matters 5. Your Spirituality Matters 6. Your Will Matters 7. Your Worship Matters 8. Your Destiny Matters Epilogue Notes Appendix: 25 Key Questions The ‘theme’ of the book is also a beautiful one – that of A Grand Weaver. We might often be left clueless in the way our life is being drawn out, but there indeed is a Grand Weaver in Heaven who has the design that is going to be revealed in the tapestry well planned out before you and I were born. This will also make a great gift. PS: There is quite a large variation in prices between the copies published by RZIM India and Zondervan (At least, I think that is the case). The former has an MRP of only Rs.200 (not sure about the Zondervan one as it was the RZIM version that I received.) – I was overcharged and Amazon refunded the amount the extra amount I paid. Just a heads up for anyone wondering about the price differences across sellers.

I have been having trouble understanding the meaning of suffering, though I accepted it is part of God's grand plan. Ravi puts things in perspective for me and now I truly understand the truth. And the truth has set me free! The book has also made me understand how to love, because Jesus first loved us!

This is a Very well rounded book. So much information but easy to read. Informative of comparing different religions. I love the Philosophy, of asking different questions. I have not finished reading as of yet. 1/2 through and I love. Not a book to read fast but to read thoroughly.

Excellent - great read