One of the hobbies I enjoy is cross-stitching. The first cross-stich I made was for my
Grandma in 2003. I have made more projects
than I can count; I seem always to be working on something as it keeps my mind
from getting bored. Since I have been
extra cross-stich occupied this month, I began realizing how many parallels
there are between cross-stitching and my Christian walk. Sounds silly, I know, but read on and you
will see what I mean.
Before I can even begin to work on a project, I must make
sure my hands are clean. I would not
want inadvertently to transfer any dirt onto the nice clean fabric. One little stain could ruin a lot of hard
work.
The same is true in the way I should approach my
relationship with the Lord. I must make
certain my hands, mind, body, spirit, and heart are all clean on the inside and
not just on the outside. Sin can
separate me from my Holy Father. One
mark can soil all my good works. Yet,
just as stain remover can save the cross-stitch, prayer and sincere repentance
can restore me unto Christ.
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the
outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and
self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the
outside of them may be clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like
whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full
of dead men's bones and
all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but
inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness, Matthew 23:25-28
If I am to walk down paths of righteousness and not merely
be a Christian in title alone, I must study the Word of God. I must know Christ’s laws intimately. I am not to merely read the Bible for
unproductive entertainment, but to absorb all I read, make notes, and let it
all sink in. I am to be so obsessed with
the words of Jesus Christ, I even dream in scripture verses. If I stray away from what the bible teaches,
I will end up with a mess. I must follow
through obeying Jesus’ commandments in order to successfully endure to the end.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the
Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but
also to all who have loved His appearing. II Timothy 4:7-8
As I work, it is fun to start to see a picture taking shape,
but it is difficult to make out the complete picture until the project is
farther advanced.
Just like life, right!
When we look at our life in segments, it sometimes makes no sense. What is the big picture? We often have to wait until something very specific
happens to see the results. For example,
when the insurance company fired me in 2011, I felt like God had let me
down. It was not until I met Mel three
months later that I realized all the time I had while I was unemployed was a
huge gift from God. It made it possible
for us to spend a lot of time together so we were able to fall in love and get
married three months after meeting. If I
had been employed when we met, I may not even have found the time to meet him
in the first place. What a huge loss
that would have been! Marrying Mel has
been the best thing that ever happened to me (after my relationship with the
Lord, of course).
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil,
to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
It is inevitable that I will make a mistake at least once
during my project. My mind wanders
easily, so sometimes forcing my brain to focus and properly count the little
squares to place the stitches in the right places goes wrong. Gratefully, I have a wonderful pair of
scissors called “snip-a-stitch” (which, strangely enough, are identical in
style to the suture removal scissors I used in veterinary medicine). I can simply cut away the misplaced thread
and correct my mistakes.
Not all mistakes in life can be undone. Sometimes the damage we have caused is so
severe a relationship is forever ruined.
However, with Christ, He will always take me back if I repent. Revelation 2:1-7 speaks to the church in
Ephesus that has lost its love for Jesus.
Yet, God tells them if they repent and do their first works over, He
will take them back. As I have said many
times, grace is not automatic, we must ask for forgiveness and repent with a
sincere and penitent heart, determined never to repeat the same sins. When we do as such, Jesus is then gracious enough
to forgive us.
Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first
love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first
works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its
place--unless you repent. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To
him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the Paradise of God. Revelation 2:4, 5 & 7
When I look at the back of a completed cross-stich project,
it looks like a mess! I am certain the
perfectionists out there follow all the rules and the flip side of their fabrics
all look neat and tidy in the end, but not mine! It is a jumble of knots and shows all the
places my thread became tangled and snagged.
There is little resemblance of the design on the other side. It looks as if I did not even begin to follow
the pattern. What is before my eyes is
nonsensical. Yet turn it over and,
voila, a beautiful picture is now visible.
I cannot count the times when my life felt like an ugly
chaotic mess. My heart was knotted and
messy. As I stated a few paragraphs ago,
I cannot always see the big picture and have often been certain God has left me
on my own with no directions. However,
when I step back and analyze the entire picture and not just one-side, I can
clearly see God’s hand has always been present.
In the series of novels I am writing (Mel calls them the
“Zynastrian Chronicles”), in both books one and two (I am now currently working
on book 3), one of the common themes is learning to recognize how God’s hand so
beautifully guides our paths. Zachariah,
one of the main characters, has had a series of disappointments and heartaches
in his life. He is only able to heal
from his past and learn to let go of his anger toward God after he realizes how
each major stage in his life all happened for his own good. I do not want to waste time going into
Zachariah’s story since that is not the point of this blog, but basically his
life was a tangled mess. Yet when he is
finally ready to see the other side of things, his heart heals and he is able
to reconcile with God. I must have this
same attitude.
And we
know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have
been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
The last step of every cross-stitch project is to add the
backstitching. These lines create the
detail and make the picture more defined.
Without the added lines, the picture is pretty, but not distinct.
There are times in our lives we may assume we are finished, or
have the attitude we are good enough, but there are still more details for God
to add. It may seem we are at a place
where everything is right where it should be, but God is never fully finished
working on us. Unlike a cross-stich that
eventually has an end, God is always adding the well-defined moments to our
lives that make us complete. We are
always growing spiritually (or at least we should be), and God is always
finding more and more ways to bless us.
The details only get better and better as our lives progress.
Lord, You have searched me
and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought
afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my
ways. For there is not a word
on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. For You formed my inward parts; You
covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows
very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of
the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they
all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as
yet there were none of
them. Psalm 139:1-6 & 13-16
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, I have made more projects
than I can count. Yet I have only made
one project exclusively for myself. The above picture the gift I made for Mel’s
birthday last year (I have also made him at least three other cross-stitches
and I am currently working on a two-sided lighthouse bookmark for him). I do
not have pictures of most of the presents I have made. All of my projects have been gifts for others
or for my husband and me to share. I
have wanted to make myself a bookmark for a while, but I am always working on
something for someone else. This is in
no way a complaint. It makes me very
happy to create a work of art for someone else. I have always loved giving
gifts, and being on a limited budget, cross-stitching is something I can easily
afford. It is personal, and while I am
making it, I can take the time to pray over the person. Sometimes God even calls me to make projects
for people I scarcely know or for whom I have hard feelings. Making such a craft is therapeutic.
And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is more blessed to give
than to receive." Acts 20:35
This is the way God wants me to approach my faith. We are called to let our lights shine and not
keep our faith hidden. When we share the
love of Christ more people than we may ever realize will benefit. With such a perfect gift of love that Jesus
has given to us, why would we want to keep it to ourselves?
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill
cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand,
and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works
and glorify your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:14-16
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