Hemmed In But Not Bound

“You hem me in—behind and before: you have laid your hand upon me.” Psalm 139:5

I had agreed to help a friend bind a quilt she was working on as a gift for a mutual teacher. That morning in my quiet time with the Lord, before I left for the “bee,” I felt God say, “Read Psalm 139 until you see something new.” I started reading my favorite Psalm very slowly and verse 5 jumped out. “You hem me in—“. Oh, what joy when events and scripture come together!

“What does a hem do, child?” It covers the ugly ends of a quilt or garment. It protects seams from unraveling. It makes the quilt or garment more attractive or beautiful. Your love does all this for me. You cover all my ugliness. You protect my (seams) life. You beautify my life. I then looked up and saw my Noah’s Ark wind chime swinging in the breeze. God hemmed Noah and his family in that ark so long ago. He will do the same for you and me.

I’m so glad that I agreed to help with that quilt. It was indeed beautiful. Bound in black, an array of children’s snowflakes was stitched carefully on a white and red background. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them white as snow” was appliqued in white satin. I am certain that God was telling me that I was just fine. I am hemmed in! All my sins are covered and white as snow.

How about you? Do you know that you are hemmed in? Are you allowing God to cover your ugly ends in the beautiful “binding” of His grace and mercy? You too can be white as snow.

Dear Father, thank You for Your grace and mercy to wash us white as snow. Thank You for Your patience as You stitch the binding of our life’s quilt closed so that on the day we see You face to face, we will stand before You complete and beautiful. In Jesus’ name, Amen.