In Due Time
On Monday, one of the brown laces in my favourite shoes snapped.
It had been fraying and wearing thin for quite some time.
In a rush to fix it, I made a rudimentary knot and tied the two parts together again.
The next day I looked for some replacement laces in the supermarket but couldn’t find a match.
For a split second, I thought about measuring them.
But then, I simply stretched the old lace in my two hands, guessed the length and ordered them online.
They arrived the next day.
Unfortunately, I’d ordered the wrong size.
They were 20 centimetres too short.
So, I ordered online again.
This time the correct size arrived the next day.
Reflecting this morning, it struck me how much time I put into something so small, yet so important.
A lace breaking.
A guess that was close, but not close enough.
A second attempt that finally worked.
The hassle of having to return something online.
If I had slowed down a little longer, taken out a measuring tape, then I would have avoided the mistake.
Small things are really big things
It was a simple lesson again for me about slowing down, taking time and paying attention.
Measuring the old lace properly, would have taken me a few seconds to do so, but I chose to guess.
This morning, preparing for church, I held the old and the new laces in my hand and placed them next to a favourite scripture in Romans 5: 3-5
One set is old, frayed and held together with a knot.
The other is new, strong and fits as they should.
In our journey through life, we often forget the importance of the small things.
I have learned many small and simple things in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
He is patient with our haste. He heals us through our mistakes. He renews what is worn.
I know that if we are willing to slow down, we begin to see His hand in the small things.
What small thing are you rushing past right now?
