Following Directions

by Rollie J.

Long winter nights, and more free time from COVID, have given me lots of time to engage in many of my crafty hobbies. My A.D.H.D. doesn’t allow for much “just sitting,” and nothing gives me more peace than working on a lengthy, detailed project while watching a good movie on TV. Multi-tasking you might call it, but I’m one who feels it’s always good to have an ongoing project. Something to look forward to doing each day or evening. Whether it’s building a canoe, crafting some new arrows, flintknapping an arrowhead, or a sewing project. It’s just good mental health to engage your mind and hands in building a new creation.

So, with a big winter camping adventure to the Boundary Waters a few short weeks away, it was time to pull out the ol’ sewing machine and get cracking on a new pair of shell pants. These would be a deluxe pair of shells made from Ultrex, a breathable and waterproof fabric, complete with full-length leg zippers, pockets, Supplex liner, suspenders, snaps, elasticized waist, reinforced derriere, knee patches, and Velcro ankle closures. This would be a fairly complicated and challenging project as far as sewing goes. Game on! As per usual, I dove in headfirst. “Snip snip here, snip snip there and a couple of tra-la, las! That’s how we laugh the day away in the merry ol’ land of Oz.”

Sewing is all about reading and then following directions. Truth be told though, I’m not much of a follow the directions type guy. I don’t really like going by the textbook. I prefer doing it my own way. But in the case of sewing, I have learned over 40+ years of sewing that I must read, and actually follow the directions.

Now over all these years and hundreds of clothing items sewn, I have become accomplished enough to be able to adapt a pattern, add a pocket here, alter a sleeve length there, delete an extra zipper here, add an accent color, place a buttonhole here, or slip in a welt there. But I must still operate within the overall guidelines of the instructions. My own creativity must fall within the overall bigger picture of the instructions.

And the crazy thing about detailed sewing projects is that almost everything you do is inside out, reversed, or upside down. Deep in the heart of many of my projects, my head spins as I read the directions but struggle to follow what I’m told to do. Nothing makes sense and I get caught in the detail of a waistline, a zipper, or pocket welt. I often just stop in frustration! “How is this ever going to turn out! Nothing makes sense!” Caught in the minutia of specific inside out, backward detail, I get lost and lose hope. How will this frustrating and confusing situation ever turn out?!

Most of us have been living in a year of incredible frustration and confusion. We wonder each day, how is this all going to turn out? In the midst of all the COVID craziness, racial tensions, insanely polarized politics, capitol rioting, online schooling, income loss, or _________________ (add your own personal life struggles), many of us are shouting at God with our fists clenched in the air; “How is this ever going to turn out! Nothing makes sense! I visually can’t see how this all comes together!” “God, your plans, from where I sit… just don’t seem to make sense to me!”

I’m reminded from all of my sewing experiences: just stick to and follow the directions. Follow them even if they don’t make sense to you in the here and now. If you faithfully follow the instructions and not just read or hear them, but act upon them, God can and will lead you through the confusion and frustration to something beautiful.

Anybody can hear the Word of God on a Sunday morning. Anybody can read the Word of God through daily quiet time and reflections. But listening and reading are only a starting point. God asks us to hear and obey. To act upon what we’ve heard. To continue stepping out in faith even when it’s confusing, frustrating and we cannot see the end result. We are asked to walk, to sew, and to live by faith!

May you have the courage to keep walking and living by faith. Listen to and then follow God’s instructions!

-- Rollie J.

P.S.: By the way. I continued following the instructions. Guess what? It turned out beautifully in the end!
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22

“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.'” John 14:23

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”  Matthew 7:24

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7