Stitched by the Master’s Hand

Woburn, Massachusetts, where we held our 123rd Annual Diocesan Assembly last week, was once renowned for its shoemaking industry. We stayed at the Hilton in Woburn, and my hotel room was decorated throughout with reminders of that legacy, as you can see in the photo. Shelves filled with sewing machines, wooden shoe forms, and spools of thick thread. All the tools of the trade.

That room took me back to a cold winter in Armenia, back in the early 90s. Times were tough. We didn’t always have electricity. We didn’t have heat. We had to burn wood in old-fashioned stoves just to stay warm. And sometimes, when wood was hard to find, we’d burn books—volumes of Lenin, to be exact. But secretly, I would save the covers, made out of leather.

Inspired by my great-uncle, a shoemaker whose craft had always captivated me, I tried using those leather covers to make a pair of slippers. I thought, "How hard can this be?" But I quickly learned—every stitch matters. You miss one, and the whole thing falls apart. You rush it, and it doesn’t hold. I didn’t have the skills. I didn’t have the patience. I had to learn that good things take time.

Friends, your life is being stitched together the same way. God is the Master Craftsman. He knows exactly where to stitch, when to stretch, and how to shape the leather of your soul. You may not understand why you’re going through a certain season. You may feel like things are taking too long.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds us, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” Not your time, not my time—His time. God is not rushing the process. He’s not cutting corners. Every experience you’ve had, every challenge you’ve faced, every tear you’ve cried, it’s all thread in His hands. He’s making something that’s going to last.

Don’t get discouraged if you’re not where you thought you’d be by now. God hasn’t forgotten you. He’s still working. He’s still shaping. And when He’s done, you’re going to see something beautiful, something strong, something that can carry you through every season of life.

So keep trusting and let God do His work in you. Trust the needle, trust the thread, and trust the One who’s holding it all together.