Part Of A Body

In this week’s post I will be sharing a longer portion of scripture then usual, so please bear with me. I feel that there is no better explanation of the subject of the body of Christ then the one which comes directly from the creator Himself. So I figured I would let Him explain this very beautiful topic.

“The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form the one body. So it is with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12

“Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Corinthians 12:14-27

As Christians we truly are an integral part of a larger picture, it’s this thing called the body, or the church. I believe that when scripture talks about the body or the church, it is not just referring to the local body of believers that we see every Sunday morning, but I believe it is referring to a much larger body of believers, the global church. We are a part of something so much bigger than just the four walls we attend each week. We serve a God that has orchestrated such a beautiful and intricate body. I count it a privilege to be a part of such a masterpiece. In this massive body, we each have an important God given task in order for things to operate smoothly. This task is going to be different for each person. That is so beautiful to think about. God has given each of us strengths and weakness. We each have talents and stumbling blocks. The beauty of it all is that where one of us in the body is weak another makes up for in their strength. God has designed this big picture to function and flow like clockwork. 

Breakdown in the body
The biggest reason things do not run smoothly often falls on our shoulders and it’s because we lose focus of our God given task and start to function in someone else’s task. It’s like this, if my God given spiritual task is to function as an eye, and I begin to wish I could do the service of a hand, and than I try to operate in that task, I surely am going to bring confusion to the body and frustration to myself. God did not design the human body with a hand coming out of the eye socket. And further more, the eye can not do some of the intricate things that the hand can do.The eye was designed for a very specific and important task and if it tries to do something else, it simply makes a mess of things. Do you see how we can cause our wheels to spin unnecessarily when we try to function in a way that God never designed us to function in? Our greatest challenge sometimes can be overcoming our discontentment in who God has made us. No, we do not have the gifts and talents of other people in the church, but please bear in mind God did not design us to be little clones of each other. If God wanted us to have the spiritual giftings of someone else, than he would have given those giftings to us. It is so important that we learn what our spiritual giftings are and function in them.  If we all were eyes, how would we ever get any serving done? We would see the needs but have no hands to meet the needs, or no feet to get us to the places we need to go in order to meet the needs. Being a part of the body of Christ is about seeking God’s face and doing the things He has for us to do. We will surely have plenty to do in the kingdom if we focus on what it is the Lord has for us to do right here and right now. We do not need to try and do the God given tasks of others!

As I share all of this, I want us to understand something here. I am still learning what it means to function in my spiritual calling. I have spent so many years looking at others and wishing I could do the things they can do. All this did was cause me frustration and brought a deep sorrow to my Father’s heart. God designed me for very specific tasks while I am here on earth, and for God to watch me desire to be something He never designed me to be brought Him nothing but heartache. It’s like me telling God He messed up somehow when He made me, that He forgot to give me certain abilities. The fact of the matter is this, God did not mess up. He did not forget something. He thought and planned out every little detail of my life and it works and functions perfectly into his greater design. The same goes for each one of us in the body. God has hand picked each of us with very special tasks in mind. He desires for us not only to function in those tasks, but to get pleasure and joy out of doing those things which we are designed to do. That is the desire of our creator, to see His children functioning in the manner of which they were designed to function, and not to do it grudgingly, but to do those things with pleasure and joy as a love offering to the one who created them. God’s heart is to see us thrive in the places He has planted us. He wants us to be full and overflowing with contentment. So much so that we desire for others to have that same contentment.

It is by no mistake that God has given you the talents and giftings you have, but please be sure you are using them to bring glory to the one who gave them to you. It brings no greater sorrow to our Father's heart then to see His children using their spiritual talents and giftings to bring glory to themselves. The glory is designed to be given to the creator, not the created. When we understand and function in this correctly it will bring such joy to God's heart and to our heart as well. If you do not know your spiritual giftings, than there is no time like the present to approach the Father and begin to seek out what it is He has designed for you. You may not get an answer right away, but this does not mean God is not listening. Keep asking and seeking and in the right timing God will reveal those things to your heart. Doors will begin to open up for you to walk through and function in those tasks. And in the time of waiting on the Lord to speak, one task all of us are called to function in is love. Find ways to love others. I guarantee you will find your calling when you begin to step out in love for others.

Lord, I thank you that you have designed us to be part of a larger picture. I thank you that you have designed each of us to do very specific tasks in your body. I pray that we learn what it means to function in those task with joy, as our love offering to you. Help us not be distracted by what you have others doing around us. Help us to be content in the place you have planted us. Lord, for some of us we don’t know what you are calling us to do in your body. I pray that you reveal in your perfect timing what you have planned for us. Thank you that you have a place for everyone in your body. I thank you that it never gets too full that you have no room for us. You have room for all who come to you and what a comfort that is to our spirits.