What does knitting have to do with God?
Nothing at first glance and yet everything, is my answer.
Spontaneously you might say: Angie, now that’s a bit far-fetched, what kind of question is that?
Sorry, my mind works like this, I like such questions! As I was knitting and thinking about God, the question suddenly popped into my head.
My mind is looking for answers:
The yarn is cotton and therefore a material ” made available” by God’s creation. Who provides the sun and rain for the plant to grow? Of course, we humans grew and cultivated this (God-given) plant – but who gave man the mind to come up with the yarn, the dyeing of the yarn, the knitting and the patterns?
How clearly the sky reveals God’s glory! How plainly it shows what he has done! Each day announces it to the following day; each night repeats it to the next. No speech or words are used, no sound is heard; yet their message goes out to all the world and is heard to the ends of the earth. Psalm 19,2-4
Ever since God created the world, his invisible qualities, both his eternal power and his divine nature, have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. Römer 1:20
These Bible verses in Psalms and Romans speak a clear language! God used his creative power to make the sky, the world and also us. Just like with knitting he varied the type of yarn, the color, the pattern, the structure and the size of the needles and created wonderful, unique people. God also gave us who are images of God his creativity. So God is also recognizable in my knitting pattern and its colors! And where else could the beauty come from – and the sense of beauty?
Science has put some obstacles in our way to see the world as created by God. But for me it is clear that nature cannot have come into being by chance. Every design needs a designer. Can such a rich splendor originate from a few cells randomly coming together? Is it possible that humans with imagination and creative thinking developed from a few single-celled organisms? And where do love, sense of duty and compassion come from?
No, I don’t find this plausible. Only a designer who is greater, kinder, more intelligent and more creative could come up with something like that! It is good to know that God is behind all the magnificent nature, that he and his work permeate our lives, that he can be seen even in the simplest everyday task. He is there even now, he is much more real than we can imagine. God is recognizable in the visible world, and even more in the unseen, spiritual world!
The unseen world? Yes, this is real too, more than we think! We believe our eyes and ears that only the world exists that we see and hear with these natural eyes and ears. But we also have spiritual eyes and ears that we can train. If we engage in this and ask God to help us with it, we will discover how much richer our lives become with it.
When we realize that God is recognizable and visible in all his creation, in everything that surrounds us, then our entire life is holy. Creation, life and even knitting proclaim God’s majesty and power! Do you see his handiwork?
