· Blessed Beyond Measure
Written Feb 5, 2013
Time is free, but it's priceless.
You can't own it, but you can use it.
You can't keep it, but you can spend it.
Once you've lost it, you can never get it back.
~ Harvey Mackay
This is the essence of what I've been meditating upon lately. I take for granted the fact that I am breathing and my heart is beating. I assume that when I go to sleep, I will awake the next morning. I don't really think about the fact that just because my family drove off in the vehicle doesn't mean they will pull into the driveway this afternoon unhurt, "healthy", and smiling.
Yes. . . all too often, I pass through the day without stopping to think of just how blessed I truly am! I get so tangled up in the "here and now" that I don't stop to think what might be around the next bend in the road. Will I have another chance to share precious time with those I love? Are those things I think are so important really gonna matter when time and calamity separate me from those people I hold so dear? And it happens -- in a flash -- just one moment can turn the tide and change a life forever.
Last night, I was thinking of the marketing wheelchair video I watched the other week. The guy was a double amputee. How does he get around? For a man in the prime of life without any legs. . . someone would have to lift him and put him where he needed to go. He has to be dependent the rest of his life without any hope of ever being able to walk {obviously}. I. am. SO. blessed!!!
And all of this spawned a whole torrent of thoughts. So what if I disagree with someone? At least they are here to disagree with! So what if my foot is not working in the appropriate way for which it was designed? At least I have both of my legs and can manage by myself to a degree! So what if I am still waiting for different situations to work out? At least I am here to wait! So what if my diet is limited? At least I have SOMETHING to eat! So what if I have to get around in a wheelchair? At least I don't have to stay in bed all day! Sorta along the same lines as the old proverb ~ "I cried because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no feet." Convicting, huh?
And I look around and see so many people hurting, suffering, groping. . . and I almost feel guilty for feeling as well as I do. My heart is pained to think of what they are going through, and I am unable to offer anything but a few {hopefully} comforting words and assurance of my prayers.
Then my thoughts turn to my knitting. Knitting? Of course! I'm going somewhere with this, so don't get disinterested all at once. : ) The most frustrating thing on earth to me is a dropped stitch. So is just one tiny dropped stitch so important? I mean, there are hundreds and thousands of those tiny stitches. Would that one stitch make such a difference? YES! At first, it may not really be noticeable. . . but after time {maybe a minute or two} a hole will develop, and then a run, and then. . . the sock is ruined. That one dropped stitch affected the outcome of the entire project. The finished product is marred and is not "perfect and entire, wanting nothing". The same with each of our "stitches" called life. Each and every one is important and has a specific purpose unique to them. A stitch on the toe of the sock would not perform in the same way had it been placed in the heel. Different roles, different responsibilities, different qualities, and even different stitches surrounding. I can't afford to let my "stitch" drop just because I'm careless or feel swept into obscurity. My "stitch" affects those "stitches" surrounding me. I am here ~ in this circumstance, in this time and place ~ for a reason, in some ways known only to my Creator.
Perhaps the "stitch" is already dropped. What then? Is hope then futile? All is not lost, my friend. : ) Sure, it mounts to much frustration, time, and work -- some more than others -- but the "stitch" can be regained. But the stitch cannot do it themselves. They must be willing, but only the Creator can pick the stitch back up and make it whole again. Only the Creator can lovingly mend the hole and turn the worthless castaway to a thing of beauty and usefulness that brings glory. . . not to the "sock", but to the One Who created it. It brings recognition to the One Who made the stitches.
And then, to make confessions as to just how good a knitter I am. . . : ) sometimes I can't get the stitch to cooperate with me. I work with it and work with it and sometimes even get a little more aggressive with it in hopes that eventually it will surrender and be pliable. I spend quite a bit of time and energy focusing on that one stitch, trying to persuade it to conform and yield to my wishes. . . not necessarily because that's what I want, but because that is what is best for that stitch and the rest of the stitches around it. But, alas! it will not yield. And at that point I have no other choice but to rip the whole thing out and start all over. It's painful, but necessary.
Isn't it the same way with my Creator when I get headstrong and willful? Only He is the perfect Creator Who makes no mistakes. He so lovingly tries to mold me and make me into what He wants me to be, but sometimes He just has to "rip me out" and start all over. Humbling, painful, but oh! so necessary!
Just an interesting observation. . . 99.9% of the dropped stitches are dropped when there is stress. When I've knit across the stitches on the one needle and I'm beginning to knit the stitches on the next needle, it creates some tension that threatens to pull the stitches off if I'm not careful. What a beautiful picture of my need to cling all the more earnestly to my Savior, Redeemer, Comforter, and Friend during those turbulent times of trials and uncertainties!
As I go about the daily activities, the Lord works in my heart and gives me SO MANY object lessons. He takes those aggravating situations and reminds me that I am just like that without Him. I fail Him and drop my "stitch", but He always forgives, cleanses, and picks me back up, placing me back on the needle where I can stay only because He holds me there. He is so patient!
This is a different kind of post than usual, I know, but perhaps you are struggling with these same issues. Maybe in a different way and under different circumstances, but the struggle is just the same. We all fail God at times, but just as He grants His forgiveness to me, He will eagerly forgive and cleanse you as well if you ask Him.