Threadbare

“But you, O Sovereign Lord, deal well with me for your name’s sake; out of the goodness of your love, deliver me.”   Psalm 109:21  NIV

 

I had a favorite sweatshirt.

 

Maybe you know the kind. The ones where you come home from work or church or anywhere else and you strip down to nothingness, replacing all the fancy clothes and undergarments with good ol’ soft, spacious, rag-tag, comfort.

And when you do, a collective sigh leaves your lungs and the world is less stressful for a few moments.

 

Do you have something similar?

 

I loved that sweatshirt. (I’m sure you can tell). No one else did. It was ugly pink, baggy, and a bit lopsided in it’s cut.   A real crowd pleaser.

 

But it was MY comfort.

 

And then time took over.

 

A little frayed here, a little torn there, a lot of discoloration—it had seen it’s better days.

 

And then the “talk” came from my husband. After seeing the holes in the armpits and the torn cuffs—one too many times, he pressed me to get rid of it. He reminded me we had money to get a new one. He started using reverse psychology on me. He had me against the ropes!

 

I gave in.

 

I relegated my most prized sweatshirt to the rag bin in his garage. I almost cried. It was a tough day. We had a ceremony!

 

thread

Photo: Renae Bowman

 

 

And when I see cut strips from time to time it makes me think about something else. Aren’t our lives so much like that sweatshirt?

 

The feeling of—

If one more thing happens, I’ll come unraveled.

If one more event pops up in my life, I’m done.

If I tug on that loose string of my “have to do’s”, it will all fall apart.

 

Are you feeling threadbare right about now? Worn down from it all?

 

You’re not alone!

 

We become so threadbare through all the everyday “stuff”, it wears us down and eats away at the fabric of our souls. Next thing we know we have holes where they shouldn’t be and tears in all the wrong places.

 

We become frayed around the edges; at times seemingly hanging on by a thread just to wake up in the morning—just to breathe.

 

And our faith becomes frazzled too.

 

The pressures of the daily grind somehow get all jumbled up into our deepest beliefs. We deal with the day in and day out of routines, and unknowingly lose sight of the Creator. Not out of defiance but out of defectiveness. We get comfortable in our routines—albeit stressful—and get unsuspectingly tattered along the way, feeling useless for Him.

 

But may I remind us all of a beautiful verse?

 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

 

I just love that verse.

 

The great I Am handcrafted us all.

He put each and every string of our beings together with the finest craftsmanship. We were made in His image to become that one piece of comfort to the world.

 

Yet, we forget that, don’t we?

 

Our purpose here is to tell of His purpose there.    Comfort.

 

And I think in all of our frazzleness (of course I made that word up) we should remember one very important point.   If God took the time to knit us together, we will not be cast aside to a rag bin when we’re worn down and a bit tattered. He will never discard His greatest creation. He uses it. Forever.

 

Even in the chaos.

 

And that is what I want to remind you about. Even there—in the chaos—God does some of his greatest work. He shows up in the least likely of places and in the least likely of times to remind us of this. He is not a God that stacks one more thing on our plates like the rest of the world, but He is a God who says, “I’ll balance those plates for you.”

In-between the carpools, the soccer practices, the orthodontist appointments, the paying of the bills, the caring for a sick spouse or elderly parents, God says I am there. Gods says the craziness can be used. God says just stay close to me.

 

“He who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.” 1Cor 6:17

 

Please, please know your crazy life has a purpose. Please know you are being used every minute of every day, whether it feels like it or not. If all you can do is take one long sigh and thank God for the life he gave you, than that’s all you can do. Give at least that to Him and watch what He’ll do with the rest of you. He’s a great seamster waiting to repair the tears.

11 Replies

  1. Jeanette Pittman

    Oops- Renae 🙂

  2. Jeanette Pittman

    Ranae- I agree that this is one of your best! I love the illustration of the sweatshirt and your attachment to it. But, of course, God’s amazing creation and attachment to us is the greatest gift/comfort of all. Thank you for this reminder today!
    P.S. “Frazzleness” rocks!!

    1. Thank you Jeanette! yes, His attachment to us is the greatest gift AND comfort. Isn’t that a great thing?!!! I’m so glad you stopped by–Thank you! And lets keep the “frazzleness” to ourselves–not sure ol Webster would be too happy with me. Blessings Jeanette.

  3. Carole Bode

    Loved that play on words about tears (rip or splash). God works on both with His mighty diligence.
    Also, when all is unraveling about and in us, don’t pull that suicide string because every thing will fall at your feet. Instead, fall at His feet!!
    Thanks for the reminder that my Father has it all under control.
    Blessings, and miss seeing you at WOF !

    1. I was wondering if someone would pick up on that play of words! So true about pulling that string and falling–we MUST choose His feet to fall at. Great point. Thank you for stopping by, and blessings to you also!

  4. Chrissy

    Hi Renae, Maybe if you’re still grieving the skin-close comfort of your “OLD” friend, maybe you could sneak out to the garage and snip off a corner of that favorite dud and keep it close to remind you of how close HE is? 😀

    1. hmmmm, great idea Chrissy. Didn’t think of that! I’m heading out there now. Thank you.

  5. Lori perez

    I have to say Renae this has to be one of the best one u have written. I love when u said that God is a seamstress waiting to repair you. It is so comforting to know that we have such a loving God that will keep repairing us over and over again as long as we go to him. I love your Monday messages. Thank you for sharing every Monday.

    1. You’re welcome Lori! Such nice words. And you’re right–I love your point–that God just keeps repairing us over and over and over again. It’s an amazing thing he does, as long as we stay close to Him. Thank you for stopping by and being a great supporter of this ministry.

  6. Shirl

    WOW!!! That was awesome and the timing was perfect!! I love when you said “God says just stay close to me”… It will be my new quote to remind me that no matter what is happening do not leave His side, even temporarily!!! Love it!!! Thank you!!!

    1. You’re very welcome Shirl! We need those reminders every now and then, don’t we? It all gets so hectic and busy but He asks us to do just the simplest of things–stay close. I’m glad it helped. I’m glad you stopped by. Thank YOU!

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