How Many Strands Does It Take?

I wonder if we know how close to unraveling we are? What are you going to do about it?

A bunch of rat’s leaving a sinking ship is sort of how I view it. You know, when the threads of your life start to unravel, what do you often do first? After repairs do not work, then you start doing things to make it all worse!

First, one thing happens, then another, and before you know it everything is letting loose and letting go. The foundation you depended on, the friends you thought would always be there, the family you so desperately need? Poof! Unraveled and gone.

All of a sudden you are left with perhaps a single strand holding it all together.

How long will it last?

I suspect this is the way people feel when they get to the “end of their rope”, or perhaps when their house of cards starts tumbling down. It’s like the mudslide, or avalanche, that begins with that single movement and shifting of balance, and before you know it, Disaster!

For some, this is a constant normal. Life is constantly full of dangerous events and they are always functioning with a brick shy of a full load, and continual disaster is always a breath away! For others, their lives are so “together” they never know what it feels like to be unsettled. Their foundation is strong, their belief system is firmly ensconced with purpose, that it would take the entire world crumbling before they feel shaken.

This is the way I feel at times when it seems like a load of life is out of kilter and my carefully weighed and balanced load leans precariously toward a fall. Most of the time it is a simple re-alignment of self and load, and keep on trucking! Other times it means dismantling the entire structure, repair the weak spots, and then build it back up from the bottom.

Here’s my thought today. Have you ever felt like you were in a conversation with a savant and you were at the lowest level, below even a common denominator? I was listening to a teacher explain how a particular thing works. In their mind, they knew all the pieces, but the listener was clueless. So, the teacher reached backward to the very bedrock of knowledge and slowly built back to the end result needed for the student to understand.

I was taking an Assembler programming class back in the 70’s, our teacher was facing a classroom full of blank looks. The schedule books had not yet arrived, so he was scrambling to find the tools to educate! He came up with the bright idea of explaining how the mainframe functioned in a binary state, stored magnetic data, and helped us to understand bit by bit processing and the lowest level. Success!

It’s somewhat like the analogy of life when we have all the pieces puzzled together, and then we try to explain it to an acolyte in the form of a parable. To the simple, the parable is enough to grasp the meaning. To the questioning mind, however, one asks, “Explain to us the parable!” just like the disciples did a number of times after Jesus explained the tenets of some truth with an allegory.

But Peter said to him,
“Explain the parable to us.”
And he said,
“Are you also still without understanding?
(Matthew 15:15-16 ESV)

Sometimes the explanation works, but other times it requires even more explaining. “Lucy! You’ve got some explaining to do!” Answers enlighten us, generally, to ask more and better questions.

When the disasters struck Job, he did not complain to God, he simply went into mourning and conversed with wife, friends, and God. There was no blog, or newspaper, to communicate to the world. It was simply a man, in need, and addressing his disaster to those nearest to him. Someone researched his book and noted there were over 600 questions in the story. Everything had a question, but nothing was an answer.

I had a recent situation where there was no one to turn to, at least in my mind and for that moment. So, I dealt with the problem by myself. But there are many times when I turn to my spouse and we handle the issue together and still fewer times when I have someone different that I can turn to for assistance. Mentors are gone. Coaches no longer exist. There are no “bosses” to redirect our energies.

Suddenly, you are alone and you have to do it all yourself!

There are days when I am a master at putting back together the unraveled situation, and then there are days when I am in deep need of assistance…

Here’s the one thing I note with you today, it matters who you are yoked with. Your partner. Your friend. Solomon puts it like this:

Two are better than one,
because they have a good reward for their toil.
For if they fall,
one will lift up his fellow.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
Again, if two lie together, they keep warm,
but how can one keep warm alone?
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone,
two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
(Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 ESV)

Who is a part of your corded life? Every rope begins with a single strand, but braid multiple strands together and you have a strong rope. Weave more rope with other rope and that thrice folded cord of rope cannot quickly be broken.

The Apostle Paul digs into it a little deeper.

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness?
Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
What accord has Christ with Belial?
Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?
What agreement has the temple of God with idols?
For we are the temple of the living God;
as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
(2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV)

Being properly yoked with people who are crucial to our well being is so necessary. We are not in the race of life by our self, rather, we are teamed up with certain folks who get us through the challenges that we all face. We are a strength to them, and they are a strength to us.

How about you? How do you handle the unraveling cords of your life when it begins to happen? Is it a surprise when it starts, or did you see it coming? How do you stitch it all back together?