A beautiful, knitted shawl, a warm hat or unique socks don’t just happen…they are made by intentional hands following a precise pattern, using specific yarn, needles, type of stitch…and many hours of loving work. In other words, it’s a process. A process, that unless a person knits, they have no idea a pair of socks will take 437 yards of yarn & 4 days to make. A shawl will take 1225+ yards (over 12 football fields) & two weeks to complete.

I love to watch a person’s eyes and reaction when they ask Mary, “How much yarn & time does it take for a pair of socks?” Almost always the expression is, “Are you kidding me?”  When you think about it, our lives are much like a knitted treasure. The people we see…the lives that look altogether smooth & beautiful, didn’t just happen. Like the knitted socks, Nothing-Just-Happens! It simply takes a lot of yarn, time and one stitch at a time.

My wife is a very good knitter. She knits because she loves to knit, usually for others. She continues to learn new stitches, try new patterns and sometimes she will make a bad stitch. What breaks my heart is to watch as she takes all her work apart, back to the last good stitch.

I’m like that. I miss or make bad stitches, that’s called sin. I must recognize my mistake/sin and confess my sins to Him. I must allow Him to remove all the bad stitches… and then change my ways. Until I follow His pattern, His plan, it will never come out right. God told us in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Today is a new day. Allow this verse to linger on your heart. “For You (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13. God sees us not as we are but what we can be. No matter what you have done, you matter to Jesus. The book of John is full of stories of broken people discovering their value in Jesus. Psalm 17:8 says it like this, “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.”

Here’s the fascinating part of the story. When we try to knit our lives on our own, it will always turn into a mess. But when we hand our needles & yarn over to Jesus…when we are born again (John 3:3) …BAM, that’s when it all comes together. He said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” John 10:10. Make every stitch (day) count. In the end you will be Blessed. Isn’t it time you turned your mess of yarn over to Jesus? He is right beside you…right now. Just call out His Name, “Jesus, I need you!”