Threading the Needle (Audio)
I do not remember the first time that I sewed on a button, nor repaired an article of clothing, but I was taught fairly young to take care of minor repairs so I would always know how to fix my own issues. Just like we learned to wash, clean and maintain our living space! I remember washing dishes standing on a chair and taking care of all the non-breakable items, and if videos are correct I’m sure I was under 3 years old.
Learning responsibility and skills early make you ready for the challenges that come later in life!
Additionally, I do not remember the first time I struggled with putting the thread through the eye of the needle. But I do remember asking for help. It probably had something to do with eye/hand coordination, the tattered thread after many failures, and the frustration of something just not working the way you want it.
Through the years I’ve noted the difficulty that my big hands have with many tasks. Close in, tight quarters and impossible angles make many tasks difficult that others take for granted! But pushing a thread through a tiny hole of a sliver of metal you hold in your fingers? It’s always been a tough task made even more difficult with reading glasses! Yep… for the last 10 years!
But the concept of threading the needle is not a task that stands by itself. Intricately working through tight situations are often called “threading the needle”. I’ve watched video’s of downhill skiers that zig and zag around moguls, hills and through the trees. Threading the needle! I’ve watched race cars zip around others like they were standing still. Threading the needle!
Intricate actions do not come by natural ability. It comes from repetitive learning, training muscles, and eye/hand coordination, and practice, practice, practice. I remember my uncle “threading the needle” of highway lanes and never hitting those rumble bumps that separate the lanes. I may do it once or twice but he could go back and forth and NEVER make a sound!
I asked a surgeon how long it took for him to learn how to sew up intricate body parts, and though he was a master at it he said it was an ongoing learning process and practice to keep the fingers supple and the skill honed.
Only one time does scripture describe a needle, but often speaks of threads and the act of sewing. Jesus speaks of it in terms of impossibilities.
A rich young man, Luke calls him a “ruler” or leader, came to Jesus asking what was required of him to inherit eternal life. Jesus commanded him to follow the commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) that were written by the Finger of God (Exodus 31:18) on two tablets of stone that Moses prepared (Exodus 34:1) and were eventually stored in the Ark of the Covenant at the command of God (Exodus 25:21, Deuteronomy 10:2,5). A sacred process between man and God produced these commandments that were the law of the land. People lived by them, wrote explanations of how to obey them, and essentially wrapped their entire life around these 10 laws.
The 10 Commandments were not suggestions! Click To TweetThe man responded, “I’ve done all these things from my youth!” This is how I was trained, what I was taught, and how I’ve lived from my earliest beginnings. Oh, but one thing you lack! Jesus tells him to sell all that he has, distribute it to the poor, follow Him and there would be treasures in Heaven! But the man went away sorrowful, “…for he was very rich.” (Luke 18:22) Jesus watched him walk away from possibility and was very sorrowful.
And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:24-25 NKJV)
Think about the impossibility of threading the needle with something as large as a camel! In my Aramaic translation of scripture, the prologue states that the word for “camel” is almost as identical for the word “rope”. Either way, camel or rope, it would be an impossibility to Thread the Needle.
“Who then can be saved?” asks the disciples… “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:27)
This popped into my brain. I may not ever be able to thread the needle with something so improbable as a camel, or needle, but with God, all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26, Mark 10:27, Luke 18:27) I may not be able to thread the needle, but with the right kind of help, then it may be possible!
My impossibility is his possibility!