Patterns

Understanding patterns can often be a little stressful and aggravating. It doesn’t matter what kind of pattern it is. For instance, I oncen had to restart a knitting project 5 times because I didn’t understand the pattern. I thought I did until I got a few rows in and realized something was dreadfully wrong. Then, I’d pull out all the stitches, get out the instructions, read over them again, consult with experts, and start again. With the help of two experts over the course of two days, it finally became clear what the problem was: perspective. I obviously didn’t have the right one. The pattern was for a hat, which is in the round, but the person who wrote the pattern had laid it out in a way that was foreign to me. When the expert showed me that the pattern is like a map of the globe that has been drawn out on a flat surface, the pattern started to make sense.

There is a pattern in Philippians chapter 2 that also can seem foreign and difficult at first glance:

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

The only pattern that is of any real importance is that of Christ. As Christians, we are to follow the pattern of Christ. In this world, it seems odd – foreign, if you will – to become a servant and serve others and be obedient to commandments that seem outdated to nonbelievers. However, when you talk to the Expert, it slowly begins to make sense. That sometimes means, ripping out the stitches and starting over again until we get it right, but the end result is worth the effort.