Have You Dropped a Stitch?

I used to knit and crochet. Back in the olden days when I actually had time to sit around!

I once crocheted a baby afghan and was about 2/3 of the way into it when I noticed I'd dropped a stitch way back there somewhere.

Now the afghan was shrinking! It looked perfectly fine unless you tried to fold it in half, then the discrepancy was painfully obvious. One end was markedly narrower than the end where I'd started.

I thought about ignoring it, but what was the point of finishing a crooked afghan? So I started pulling on the yarn and unraveled that thing all the way back to where I'd first messed up. Yes, it took longer, but when I finished I had something I could be proud of.

Sometimes we get the idea that God is not interested in the minute details of our lives. We have an unspoken rating system: big decisions merit prayer, little ones are up to me.

I'm not sure that's accurate. I am currently reading through Exodus (well aware that the tedious chapters of Leviticus are ahead). When the O.T. launches into all that meticulous detail, I tend to zone out. But since all Scripture is there for us to learn, I asked God to show me what he wanted me to learn from it.

As I read about God's instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle, I was struck with how detailed it was. God was passionately concerned with every facet of it from color, to texture, to smells, and to size and shape. He was REALLY into it! God got excited about His house and making himself available to his people. He wanted them to know he cared very much about every tiny detail and was keeping watch to see that they obeyed Him.

I think He wants us to know that too. There is no area of our lives off-limits to God. No decision too small or thought too insignificant for Him to care about it.

If He cared enough to instruct Moses on the exact color and design of a priest's robe, then He cares what you're wearing on that important interview. He cares what you wear to church. If He insisted on nothing but the purest gold for His utensils, then He still insists that you give him your very best in everything. He knows the difference.

Sometimes we think we can get away with offering God something we care little about. We give him our castoffs, our discarded ideas, our half-hearted efforts. We give him a couple of hours on Sunday morning and think He's satisfied.

God is very much into details. Jesus hammered that point home when he told his followers that "the very hairs of your head are numbered." Can you be any more detailed than that?

Satan wants you to believe that you're "bothering God" with your puny problems and after all "God helps those that help themselves." You won't find that nonsense in the Bible, even though it's quoted as though it was inspired.

God helps those who throw themselves at His feet and beg for mercy, admitting their inability to help themselves. He wants us to share with Him our every thought, our puzzling circumstances, our decisions at those forks in the road.

He never drops a stitch, but he cares a lot when you do. He'll whisper that it's okay, just go back and do it again. This time follow the Pattern and you'll create something worth keeping.
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