How do we KNIT OURSELVES TO THE LORD ?
We YIELD our thoughts, our plans, our activities to HIM+, daily …even hourly. The MORE we YIELD, the more we will receive His+ Direction. That is how we experience His+ Will as an active reality in daily living. HE+ will minutely direct us if we stop ourselves … hourly … and YIELD to HIM+.
Here is a true, personal story from one follower of JESUS who practices YIELDING to HIM+ through-out the day.
Dear friend, you asked me to write to you about my week. Well, my “activities” have been mostly inner, spiritual journeys this week, with lots of quiet time and vigils before HIM+… not much to write about.
Puzzling over this, I asked The LORD what to share with you, and HE+ brought to mind my KNITTING — of all things !
For reasons of His+ own, The LORD has led me to take up knitting although I have very little ability at doing these hand-work skills that many ladies do. I make lots of mistakes in spite of the fact that I go SLOWLY and am exceedingly careful .
As I un-ravel my rows to correct mistakes, I often ponder WHY I must knit ? Why does Our LORD take pleasure in my knitting … when obviously it does not come natural nor easy to me.
During this past year I have learned — by His+ enabling power alone — to knit socks. I have made about 5 pair so far and am half-way done with my 6th pair.
This week during my meditation time, as I was knitting and being “still,” I found myself beginning the cuff of my second sock for this current pair of socks.
Now, if you know anything about knitting, the standard knitting of a sock cuff is done in such a way to make it elastic and stretchable by working a knit-purl stitch combination. ( Purling is a backward knit stitch.) It is REALLY beginner’s work and very easy to do.
So, this second cuff I knit and UNFORTUNATELY unraveled due to mistakes … 5 TIMES !
Over and over again, I knit this cuff and after about 1 inch of knitting I would discover a bad mistake which I could not correct without unraveling the entire cuff.
Soon, I began to wonder: WHAT is going on here ?
This is NOT TRICKY knitting, but I was knitting bad mistakes into this cuff.
The problem HAD to be with me.
Berating myself for not keeping my mind on my work, I diligently re-started the cuff again from the very beginning of cast on stitches, WORKING VERY SLOWLY, counting my stitches, checking each row vertically as well as horizontally.
I finally completed the first inch again when the thought “occurred” to me that I should compare this cuff to my finished sock to see if it were as loose as the finished one.
WHEN, LO…
I discovered the BASIC error.
I had worked a pattern on my cuff as Knit 1, Purl 1 which gave the sock cuff a very delicate look, like for a baby’s sock.
HOWEVER … I SHOULD HAVE BEEN working Knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches in order to match the finished sock. I re-checked the pattern and it indeed was Knit 2 stitches, Purl 2 stitches on the cuff.
During this entire time of working on my second sock, my eyes had been “holden” as I diligently and carefully continued to knit K1, P1 — the WRONG PATTERN — for about an inch until “something” caused me to work errors in my knitting and I had to un-ravel it all and start again.
THEN , LO…
I SAW THE LORD’S HAND in it.
If HE+ hadn’t stopped me, I would have knit all the complicated sections and patterns of the sock down to the toe. THEN I would have discovered the awful truth: my socks did not match.
You see, you CANNOT unravel just the cuff AFTER the entire sock is knit. A knitted sock can only be unraveled FROM THE TOE up to the cuff .
The entire sock — about 12 inches of knitting and untold hours of labor for me — would have had to be re-done IF THE LORD WOULD NOT HAVE HINDERED me.
I was stunned.
HE+ saved me from a HUGE AMOUNT of distress BY STOPPING my diligent — but wrong — work.
HE+ simply would not allow me to complete the project, knowing the distress awaiting me if I kept on going “my” way.
Thus, The LORD JESUS was blessing me and helping me, but I could ONLY SEE that my work was being thwarted on every side. I was kicking against the WALL that would not move out of my way.
I was so stunned and humbled. So very humbled.
We really DO need to praise HIM+ when things “go wrong” because in Truth, they actually may be “going right” … as HE+ sees what we DON’T SEE nor do we see what lies ahead.
Let us bless HIM+ instead of clamor for doing things “our way”. Let us THANK HIM+ when HE+ does NOT allow us to obtain our short-sighted desires. Let us acknowledge that HE+ is better at knitting our lives together than we are.
As it is written:
Before I was afflicted I went astray:
but now have I kept Thy+ Word.
Psalm 119:67
As it is written:
It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
that I might learn thy statutes.
Psalm 119:71
As it is written:
I know, O LORD, that Thy+ judgments are right, and that THOU+ in faithfulness hast afflicted me.
Psalm 119:75
Let us pray:
O Gracious Heavenly FATHER, we come to YOU as a quieted and weaned child.
We know we do not see our doings as YOU see them. We do not see the end from the beginning, as YOU do.
O LORD JESUS, thank YOU for blocking our way when we mistakenly enter onto a path that will bring us heart-ache in the end… even though that path looks so right — and desirable — to us now.
Make us SOFT and PLIABLE in Your+ Hand.
Help us to YIELD continuously unto Your+ LORDSHIP, O CHRIST.
We know that no good thing will YOU+ withhold from us when we walk uprightly.
Teach us to walk quietly and humbly before YOU+ and to lay all our thoughts, our desires, at Your+ feet, O LORD.
Help us to humbly and GRATEFULLY accept Your+ Divine Will in our lives. YOU+ do all things well.
This we pray in Thy+ name ,
O LORD JESUS CHRIST,
YOU+ Who+ truly saves us
from destroying ourselves.
In the Name of The HOLY FATHER,
Who created us;
His+ BELOVED SON+,
Our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST,
Who saves us;
And the BLESSED HOLY SPIRIT,
who sanctifies us.
Amen.
