Special Parts

"But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, 

just as he wanted them to be." 1 Corinthians 12:18

Earlier today I was reminded of a challenge I was supposed to be working on this summer. I'm guessing if you read that statement correctly you know that I forgot about the challenge completely. Sad, but true.

Anyway, I was only reminded of it when one of the leaders in the group asked the members how they were doing. Um, not good. At all. And then I had the saddest realization. Even if I had remembered it, I don't know that I'd be in a much different place. 

If nothing else, I am a creature of habit. While I haven't been setting an alarm this summer (minus the day we had to all be in the car and ready to go by 9:00 AM for an out of town wedding), I am still waking up way earlier than I should be. And even though I am desperately trying to slow down and do things more intentionally, I am still moving at breakneck speeds the majority of the time. And while I am absolutely certain that God knows my quirky ways and loves me anyway, I am not convinced that this is the way he intends me to live the rest of my life.

So, when I read the verse above this morning, I realized that maybe God is taking me on a journey to discover the better way, his way. And hopefully I won't need to crash and burn to get there, but maybe this tiny wake up call is like the snooze alarm that normal people hit, rousing me to become more aware of my less than stellar habits. And maybe as I start to turn back towards him and seek more of his direction, instead of constantly being exhausted, I might actually be awakened to the life he's been calling me to all along.

One of the things I love most about God is that he will patiently watch as I repeat the same mistakes over and over again thinking that I am going to get a different result. And while he could swoop in and zap me with a dose of Holy Spirit power to become more than a conqueror faster than a microwave can burn popcorn, he usually doesn't because he wants me to learn the lesson in a way that will stick for the long haul.

So wherever you are, and especially if it's not where you thought you would be, just trust and believe that you are exactly where you are supposed to be. Because while you might be thinking that you are just a part of the general cast, you actually have a leading role for those who are watching your story unfold into theirs. And in the end, the glory of what he is doing in and through you as you influence others, will outweigh anything you could have ever imagined.