On Crocheting and Trusting in the Master's Plan

 Who would have thought that crocheting would be a means of knowing and teaching a necessary part of the Christian walk?

Anyone who is fond of needlework may relate to this, when you are trying a new pattern and new stitches. There are times when you look at your work wondering

"What in the world is THIS??" You find that it looks nothing like the finished product, but more like a knotted mess.

"How does THIS mess fit into the final plan?" You might find yourself wondering. "Seriously, I don't get it!"

This is suppose to be a baby dress!

Three or four rows in, you're wondering if you should just pull it all out and start over before you get too far, or try an old and reliable pattern that you know will work out. You constantly re-read the pattern wondering if maybe you just did something wrong, or if, perhaps, the pattern was written wrong.

"This is in American English, right? Not British?"

But, yet, you resign yourself to plugging along, trusting in the pattern, the written word of instruction.

"It just HAS to work out somehow, I guess, because this is how it was written for me to follow, but how can all this ugly turn into something beautiful like the instructions promised?"

How often in those quiet moments does the Spirit of God gently lead me, speak to me in parables of everyday life.

Trust in the Master's Plan!

"But it looks like such a mess! A big tangled mess of failure! How can ANYTHING good come of this?? it doesn't look ANYTHING like it's SUPPOSE to!"

 Isn't that life in a nutshell? We try as we may on our own power, our own understanding. We strive, we toil, we work our fingers to the bone on our own power, only to come out at the end with a big, heaping, tangled mess. We cry out in frustration of wasted time, weep and lament wasted resources. We lash out about lost sales, wages, things that are truly and completely beyond our feeble control.

"God, how can this be Your plan?? This heaping, hot mess of life... how can this possibly be Your plan?? Are You even LISTENING to me??"

Trust Me!

Comes the simple, fragrant, solitary voice of faith. The answer in times of messy trials. The strong tower and safe haven in times of distress and grief. Simple Trust, yet so difficult to come by. 

The voice speaks again, as a whisper in the depths of conscience:

"Remember the sparrows? The Lilies? I take care of them.... not one of them drops to the ground apart from my sovereign hand, so how much more shall I take care of you, my child? This mess you see, I can see beyond it. I can see the next stitch, the next row, the next round, just as plain as this moment in time. I can see tomorrow, for I am already there. I have a plan, and to you I have entrusted my written Word of instruction. All you have to do is have faith and follow it. Trust in my instruction, in my design, through all of it's stages. These steps might be ugly, but I can assure you that the end result will be beautiful if you just keep on going!"

Trust. I resign myself to trust. I keep on plodding, striving on, trusting in those words in front of me. Hook in hand, doubt lingering but faith stronger that my doubt, I continue on. 

It starts to take shape. Slowly, but surely....

It's starting to resemble a dress yoke!

 Sometimes we see the mess because we are bound by these eyes of flesh in this present moment. Life is messy, but so is baking, and so is crocheting. Often things seem to need to fall apart before they can start coming together. However, each little mess (and each gargantuan mess!) takes it's place in the grand Tapestry of Grace being wrought with the Master's Hands. We see the mess, but God see's the finished project. Oh, to have the eyes of faith in the messes of everyday life!

My Pastor often tells a story of a young boy sitting under his grandmother's quilting table looking up at her work from the bottom. He said to his grandmother, "It looks ugly from down here!" She just smiled and responded, "If you could only see it from up here...." That's how God often sees our lives, I believe. We, the child, see the mess, but our Lord sees the plan and the beauty in it all. We simply trust and obey.

Trust in the Master's Plan, and in the Author of the Grand Design.