When all is Well, and When it's Not

Isn't that so true?  Spring has come and with it will come the profusion of flowers. In a beautiful flower garden there are the border flowers, the ground cover flowers, the blossoms lifted up on tree branches, the flowers grown for cutting, the big and bold that make a statement, the little ones that are so sweet, the ones that complement each other in colour - every colour, variation and size but together they bloom in gardens the crowds come to see! 

I have been appreciating anew how wonderful it is to have two working hands and how daily life changes when you don't!! I don't have to tell you, I'm sure, that I will be thankful when my cast comes off! in several weeks!!

My thoughts have been going to the passages where we are taught that the church is Christ's body and how every part is important.

I Corinthians 12:26 says " ..if one body part suffers, all the members suffer with it!"

Yes, I am experiencing that..I am protecting my left arm, I wear a protective cast, I am careful not to bump it, I don't ask anything of it, I carry it in a sling so it can rest.

That is true in the body of believers as well. I have experienced such a rallying around me of loving support and sympathy. It is good to be in fellowship , caring for and about each other.

But I want to look at this from another perspective.

Because my left arm is not doing its part, the rest of my body struggles. Simple tasks like washing my hair, getting dressed, opening a jar, cooking a meal, cleaning the house,  have become time consuming and difficult.

Then there are the things I cannot do at all, like typing or sewing or knitting or driving or opening a jar or carrying something heavy or awkward.

Because of the 'lack' caused by a non functioning arm, the rest of my body is inconvenienced at best and at  times completely shut down. (I am thankful for my husband stepping up to do more than he is used to!)

Is this true in the body of Christ?

I think it is. 

Philippians 2:30 reads ,"...because for the work of Christ he came close to death not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in you."

What is Paul talking about here?

The man he is talking about is Epaphroditus, the only time he is mentioned in the New Testament.

Paul is gently rebuking the Philippian church that Epaphroditus had to work so hard filling in what they were not doing. In fact, he made himself sick trying to do more than he should have had to do.

We all have a 'gift' with which we serve others. If all my body parts are doing their part, it is a wonderfully working  body, every part working and supporting every other part. So also if everyone does their part , the church is a wonderful thing to see.
 But rarely do we see everyone doing their part. Many of us feel we either have no gift or it is too small to make a difference.

I broke my toe in high-school playing soccer and I can tell you that even the smallest part not working causes all kinds of trouble!!

How to know what your 'gift' is?  What do you love to do? What is your go-to when you have the time and opportunity? What makes you happy? Look there to know your gift. Maybe you love to cook...use that to bless others who could use a meal, or a cheering-up dessert treat!

Maybe you love to strike up conversations with people you don't know. Use it by visiting lonely people in hospitals or care homes. Maybe it's your hobby  -  photography, outdoor sports or activity, maybe it's gardening or crafting, maybe its spending time in prayer, maybe its caring for children. Think about it...what gives you the most satisfaction , the most joy?  God gave each of us the gift that involves and centers in the things that give us joy, the things we could spend all day doing, if we could.

Know that what you have been given is important for the well being of the body of Christ. Whether it might be considered big or small does not determine its need or importance in the body of Christ! ..YOU are a uniquely gifted, one of a kind ,much needed person in the body of Christ!!

You are loved and treasured!!  Bloom where God planted you and know that without you God's garden would be incomplete, and the body of Christ would suffer a missing part!!

 Longing ....

My husband took the above photo of our hummingbird sitting on our patio table, but he has been spending most of the day sitting on the branch of a patio plant under his feeder.  That is so unusual because it usually in for a drink and then off to his next destination.

His habits changed with the winter freezing temperatures we have been having. 

He is obviously cold. Fluffing up his feathers to stay warm enough to survive.

As I watch him through the patio door -  my side so warm and comfy,, his so cold -  I feel so sorry for him. How I long to just open the patio door, cup him into my hand and bring him inside where it is warm.  Inside where he could be safe and warm and fed. 

But I know if I did, it would probably cause his death and at best he would panic in an unfamiliar environment.

My emotions are a deep longing to help him ... but I am helpless to do so. I do what I can, make sure his hummingbird feeder is well-supplied and it has a heat lamp to keep his drink from freezing. But I would do so much more! 

Jesus' words came to mind.  He  expressed His longing to gather HIs people under His wing...and could not.

I thought about God longing for something He could not have or do and I could not imagine how much greater His longing would be than mine. His emotions being God-sized.

When I was a child I did not have the concept of my parents having  an emotional feeling of hurt or disappointment when I did something wrong, or a longing for me to do something I wasn't. .  Children  see parents as totally self-sufficient and we have a  tendency to see God in the same way. 

But we have scripture where God does express His longing.

What does God long for that He cannot have or do?

In Ezekiel 37:27 we read God's desire to be in the midst of His people - to be their God and for them to be His people.   We know how quickly His people turned to other gods and  walked in rebellion to God.  How that must have pained Him. 

In a familiar passage in Jeremiah 29:11 we read, ... "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil , to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me and I will listen to you."   

Just as I knew what my little humming needed , but I couldn't give it to him because he is afraid of me,  so also God knows exactly what we need but if we don't come to Him and ask ... He will not force us.  He has given us free will,  and He will not violate that. 

There is a beautiful passage in Isaiah 30:18,19 that says, "There the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you, and therefore He will be exalted that He may have mercy on you for the Lord is a god of justice blessed are all those who wait for him". 

Now that my granddaughters are grown and have their own 'life', the oldest married expecting a baby, the younger in college with a steady boyfriend, they no longer have the time to spend with me like they used to.  I knew it would be like this, it is what we wish for our grandchildren - to be happy in a fulfilled life, but that means that we 'wait' for them to have some time here and there to visit.  
It's hard to imagine the Creator of the Universe - the Almighty God, longing , waiting to spend time with us, isn't it?   Yet, He says it is true !  

Then there is the passage I referred to above - Jesus' words in Luke 13:34. Listen to the aching longing of His heart. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!"   
"Not willing!" when the God of Love desires to gather us close.  

How often we have sat beside our children, grandchildren's beds and watched them sleep, for no other reason than because we loved them so much.  Did you think about God sitting beside your bed as you sleep, thinking about you?  Look at Psalm 139:17,18

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand, When I awake, I am still with you!"

This week when the world remembers 'love' , let us remember the Love that is greater than any earthly love - the Love that loves the unlovable because He has plans to create for them a life that brings  'peace' and 'joy' and 'glory to His name'!