Recently I was visiting with my nephew about teaching him to sew on a button or hem a pair of pants, and what a valuable skill that is. In fact, many of us will not buy clothing if the fit is not perfect – if the pants or the sleeves are too long because we don’t have the skill to make those corrections. I think we all have a pile of clothing that needs to be repaired – either a seam has come undone, or a button needs to be replaced. Just like that pile of things that need to be mended, sometimes our lives need some repair. We all have hurts and troubles that leave us frayed. Praise God that He knows us so well! When we feel like we are unraveling that’s when God gets out His sewing kit!
Psalms 139:5 (NIV) says:
“You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.“
I know not many of us sew anymore. But this picture is a beautiful representation of what our loving God does for us. When you are hemming a garment, you literally are folding the raw edges of the fabric under several times and stitching it down. Why? Because without hemming, the fabric’s raw edges will begin to unravel. You see, the fabric is made by threads woven together, and once cut, it can become frayed and eventually come apart, one thread at a time. Not unlike us when our faith wears thin, and our hope starts to unravel or we’ve been cut by sharp words. Our loving Father knows us so well and loves us so well as the verses in Psalms 139:1-4 talk about. He knows our fragile nature and goes ahead of us, He guards us from behind and He stitches us down, anchoring us to Him. He folds us into Christ, protecting us from totally unraveling from the hurts, stresses, troubles that come our way.
I love how The Passion translation of Ephesians 1:3 reads:
“Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!”
We are folded over into or “wrapped” into Christ, safe and protected from unraveling. And we have access to EVERY spiritual blessing! We can choose to not take offense, we have the power to give grace in tense situations, and we can accept God’s healing. Because God
“. . . is our constant source of stability; He abundantly provides safety and great wisdom; He gives all this to those who fear Him.” Isaiah 33:6 (NET)
God’s love for us is a stabilizing force. We can choose to trust and not doubt. We can hope and feel secure in the anchor of His promises. The first part of Hebrews 6:19 reads “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.” Our hope in the promises of God anchors us down, much like the folded fabric is anchored by being stitched together in the hemming process.
So today, if you are experiencing heart wounds, doubts, or the stresses of life, I pray that you are filled with the knowledge that God has hemmed you in and that He IS your source of stability in an unstable world! May that truth really sink in and anchor us so that we can model God’s grace, mercy, and love. And in doing so, that we model God’s incredible sewing skills.
Written by Kim Hughes
