How Many People Does it Take to Fold a Double Sheet?

How many people does it take to fold a double sheet?

One, it turns out. 

Okay, so clearly I’m really slow but it took me waaaaay too long to realize a person could fold a double sheet (or even a single) on their own. I know. Slightly pathetic (and no, I’m not telling you exactly how long but you’ll be happy to know it was before I got married :p )

See, when I was little, Mum would always get one of us kids to help when she was folding sheets or blankets. We’d take one end, she’d take the other, we’d meet in the middle, take the new ‘end’, and so on until it was folded. I had no idea it could be – and usually was – a one-person job. 

It was one of those crazy moments of blow-your-mind revelation when I realized. Not so much because I could suddenly fold all these sheets on my own without having to go find my mum or a sibling as it was the fact that Mum had let us help – valuing it even – even though she didn’t need it. In fact, it probably would have been easier to do it on her own. 

But she didn’t. She let us help. She spent that time with us. She taught us skills we’d need to know for the future (okay, so I slightly missed the point of the lesson but I did learn that sheets needed to be folded rather than scrunched in a ball and thrown in a cupboard so that counts). 

God does that too. He lets us help even though he doesn’t need it. 

God is all powerful. He’s all-seeing, all-knowing, all-everything. He created the universe with a word. 

That person needing encouragement? God could encourage them without me. He could make a whole garden full of their favorite flower bloom overnight without even a seed being planted. He could send a rainbow, an angel, a vision. Believe me, he doesn’t need to use a bumbling human who’s just as likely to get the message wrong as right. 

That person needing church? God could do get them there without me. Easily. He’s picked up people from one place and put them in other cities before. Sent churches to people. He made that person’s brain, it would be simple for him to plant a yearning in there for church. He doesn’t need me to shakingly invite them. 

He could teach our kids about himself without us ever saying a word. He could heal the sick without us praying over them. He has multitudes of angels worshiping him day and night, he doesn’t need us to write worship songs either. 

But he wants us. He lets us help! He invites us in. Lets us make mistakes and bumble our way through his work because he cherishes that time spent with us. Because the process is teaching and growing us and he absolutely delights in that. Even though he could do a much better job himself.   

There’s this line in a Casting Crowns song that I love (which sums it up pretty well (sorry, you could have saved yourself some time and just read their lyrics!))…

How refreshing to know You don’t need me

How amazing to find You still want me…

God wants you. And yes, he knows you're not perfect. He knows you'll make mistakes, sometimes chicken out and occasionally miss the boat altogether. But he’s not asking for perfection. Just you. Your willingness to help. To spend time with him. To walk with him and be his hands and feet. To pray. To join in what he's already doing every day. 

How many people does it take to fold a double sheet?

Just one. But how much better the relationship when it’s two!

(In Me, Casting Crowns, 2005)